SAIC anti-trust info portal goes online

An anti-trust information portal has been set up by the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC), making public 12 monopoly cases five years after China's Anti-Trust Law took effect, according to China's government website Tuesday.

Nine out of the 12 cases were attributed to collusion between industry associations and business operators, according to the portal.

One such case involved 46 hotels, 15 resorts, two tourist bus operators and 20 tourism agencies in the Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture of Southwest China's Yunnan Province.

The local travel association signed "cooperation agreements" and "self-discipline covenants" with business operators and required them to operate through a so-called travel information system, which designated hotels, attractions and buses as well as fixing prices for accommodations and admission tickets.

The anti-monopoly bureau of the SAIC investigated the case and found it in violation of China's Anti-Trust Law enacted on August 1, 2008.

Other cases involved collusion in areas as diverse as construction materials, second-hand cars, insurance and gas supply.

All the cases probed under the SAIC will be made public through the new system, said Ren Airong, director of the Anti-Monopoly and Anti-­Unfair Competition Bureau of the SAIC.

The number of anti-trust cases filed and investigated by the SAIC has increased in recent years, from one case in 2009 to 14 in 2012, Ren said.