The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the country's top economic planner and one of the antitrust regulators, said Monday that it has held a meeting to solicit opinion for the drafting of antitrust guidelines for the nation's vehicle sector.
Car producers, dealers, auto parts suppliers and industry associations were invited to the meeting on Friday, the NDRC said in a statement posted on its website.
The guidelines are expected to provide directions for both sales and after-sales service in the sector, media reports said in June.
China has stepped up efforts to crack down on monopolistic practices in the past few years and the auto industry has been one of the main targets.
Several carmakers and dealers, such as Audi, BMW and Chrysler, and 12 Japanese parts makers, have been fined since August 2014 for fixing prices.
In the most recent case, German premium car maker Mercedes-Benz in April was fined 350 million yuan ($56.35 million) for price fixing by the authorities in East China's Jiangsu Province. Several of its dealers in the province were also fined 7.87 million yuan for price fixing.
Automakers in China are in the driver's seat when it comes to relationships with their dealers, giving them control over what models can be sold and at what prices, media reports said.
That power is a prime reason for the high car prices in China, analysts said.
Carmakers including Jaguar Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz and Audi announced price cuts for cars or after-sales service last year in response to antitrust probes in China.
Analysts noted that clear guidelines could make antitrust probes more transparent and convincing.
