The State Administration for Market Regulation ("SAMR") has recently issued the Circular on the Authority for Antitrust Law Enforcement (the "Circular").

The Circular calls for efforts to 1) establish a scientific and efficient antitrust law enforcement mechanism, 2) strictly perform the statutory duties and 3) practically improve organizational guarantees. Among others, the Circular clearly states that, the SAMR will be responsible for the unified antitrust law enforcement, while relevant provincial market regulators directly under the SAMR's jurisdiction or duly authorized, will be in charge of handling three types of cases, including "cases related to monopolistic agreements or the abuse of dominant market position or of administrative powers to eliminate and restrict competition, in which market players across multiple provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government are involved, and the abuse of provincial governments' administrative powers to eliminate and restrict competition". Moreover, the Circular notes that, provincial market regulators will take the responsibility for antitrust law enforcement within their respective administrative regions, in cases involving monopolistic agreements or the abuse of dominant market position or of administrative powers to eliminate and restrict competition, and are allowed to make decisions according to law on these cases in their own name. During case reviews and investigations, the SAMR may authorize provincial market regulators to launch corresponding investigations.

（Source：SAMR）