China Outlines Regulatory Blueprint to Curb Price Wars and Tighten Platform Rules

China's market regulators unveiled strategic priorities for the upcoming 15th Five-Year Plan (2026–2030) during a State Council Information Office briefing. Officials announced forthcoming amendments to the E-Commerce Law and Price Law to curb predatory low pricing and hold digital platforms accountable through turnover-proportional fines. Authorities also plan to issue or revise at least 20,000 national standards to steer competition from price wars toward quality, alongside targeted measures to support advanced biopharmaceutical clusters.

The regulatory roadmap marks a decisive turn from raw platform scale and cut-throat price competition toward product quality and technical standardization. By proposing revenue-linked proportional fines on digital platforms and legal mechanisms to calculate baseline costs against predatory dumping, regulators aim to curtail destructive competition while establishing legal boundaries for platform liabilities and advanced manufacturing.

Chinese regulators have outlined comprehensive market oversight priorities for the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026–2030), signaling stricter discipline against predatory price wars and greater accountability for digital commerce platforms. Speaking at a State Council Information Office press conference, Shu Wei, vice minister and spokesperson for the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), stated that by 2030 China aims to establish standardized entry and exit systems for market entities, elevate anti-monopoly and fair competition enforcement, and significantly advance national quality standards. A special campaign targeting substandard and low-priced goods has already resulted in 29,000 investigated cases, according to SAMR. To counter self-destructive competition, SAMR plans to accelerate revisions to the Price Law and update regulations governing low-price dumping. Regulators plan to work with industry associations to establish standardized cost-calculation benchmarks, forming a structured legal framework to regulate dumping practices. Firms spearheading predatory price wars that disrupt normal production and operations will face rigorous cost investigations and price inspections. Regulatory scrutiny is also expanding across digital platforms. Zhu Jianqiao, director general of SAMR's Network Transaction Supervision and Management Department, announced that authorities will expedite revisions to the E-Commerce Law. Proposed amendments include introducing revenue-proportional fines and the suspension of business operations for serious violations. These penalties are intended to reinforce platform obligations concerning merchant admission vetting, product data control, consumer protection, and merchant autonomy. Standardization will serve as a primary policy lever to shift competition toward quality. Regulators aim to formulate or revise no less than 20,000 national standards—including over 1,000 mandatory standards—upgrade benchmarks across ten traditional industries, and expand standards for emerging sectors. Infrastructure plans include constructing at least 30 national quality inspection centers and more than 300 public testing service platforms. In the pharmaceutical domain, National Medical Products Administration Vice Minister Yang Sheng noted that authorities approved 59 innovative drugs and 51 innovative medical devices in the current year. The regulator plans to support three to five globally competitive biopharmaceutical clusters, advance the 2030 edition of the Chinese Pharmacopoeia, and formulate technical standards for cutting-edge sectors, including brain-computer interfaces.