China's antitrust efforts hailed

China had settled 154 anti-monopoly cases by mid-December and seen a record number of cases approved with conditions attached since 2008, the Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday.

The ministry's progress on antitrust work represented the country's increasing involvement in the global effort to protect fair market competition, experts said.

"Including another dozen cases that will be closed within the next two weeks, the number of antitrust cases the ministry settled in 2012 would have been the same as last year, and most involved manufacturing industries, including the petroleum, chemical, mechanical, automobile and shipping sectors," said Shang Ming, director at the ministry's anti-monopoly bureau.

"Most cases put on file in 2012 happened among competitors in similar industries," Shang added.

In 2011, the ministry settled 171 antitrust cases, with four approved with conditions attached.

"The ministry approved six antitrust cases with conditions attached in 2012, the most since 2008," Shang said. In 2008, only one case was approved.

Among the 154 antitrust cases settled by mid-December, 142 were approved with no conditions attached, accounting for 92 percent of the total.

Ning Wanglu, a senior fair trade official with the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, said that while China opens up the market further, it is confronting new challenges in maintaining fair market competition as more and more foreign, State and private investment flows into the country.

Sheng Jiemin, a Peking University law professor, said: "Instead of damaging foreign investment or multinational companies, China's antitrust legislation and progress on other anti-monopoly work aim to provide a better investment environment for foreign companies."

Chinese antitrust authorities approved Google Inc's acquisition of Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc with conditions attached in May, clearing the barrier for the search engine giant to grow its mobile business in the market with the world's largest number of smartphone users.

The ministry ruled that Google should keep its open-source Android model on a free and open basis.

Google made a commitment to the ministry that it will continue to license the use of the Android platform on a free and open basis, and treat all equipment manufacturers fairly.

Google should continue to observe Motorola Mobility's obligations on patents in its currently fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory manner, the ministry said.

Google announced in 2011 that it would purchase Motorola Mobility, the Illinois-based maker of mobile devices and other hardware, for about $12.5 billion.

Google was asked to submit a report to the ministry every six months within the five-year term.

Shang said the economic crisis is actually an opportunity for enterprises to implement merger and acquisition activity, adding that amid the financial crisis, M&A cases are increasing rather than declining.

In reviewing anti-monopoly activities, Shang also vowed to strengthen international cooperation on antitrust work, emphasizing that China and the United States have broadened their collaboration in recent years.

In September, China and the United States held high-level dialogues on enhancing cooperation on anti-monopoly and antitrust enforcement.