China Handled 290 Administrative Monopoly Cases in 14th Plan Period

Chinese market regulators investigated and concluded 290 cases involving the abuse of administrative power to restrict competition during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, averaging 58 concluded cases per year, according to official reports carried by Xinhua and People's Daily. Enforcement actions targeted local protectionism across sectors such as public procurement, construction, and transport, including discriminatory highway toll rates and unfair bidding criteria that disadvantaged non-local enterprises. Regulatory authorities indicated that enforcement will remain a priority into the upcoming 15th Five-Year Plan period.

Dismantling administrative monopolies and local protectionist barriers directly impacts fair competition for businesses nationwide. Eliminating regional market segmentation helps lower compliance and transaction costs, unblocks the cross-regional flow of capital and labor, and enhances overall economic efficiency.

Chinese market regulation authorities investigated and concluded 290 cases involving the abuse of administrative power to exclude or restrict competition during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, state media reported, citing data from the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR). Enforcement intensity increased during the period, with regulators concluding an average of 58 cases per year, according to a report published by Xinhua and carried by People's Daily. The investigations covered multiple key sectors, including urban administration, public bidding and procurement, engineering construction, and transportation. Administrative monopoly occurs when local government departments or legally authorized public organizations abuse administrative authority to enact exclusionary policies, impede the entry of non-local goods and services, or restrict market competition. Beijing has positioned the elimination of such practices as a core requirement for building a unified national market. Among the prominent actions highlighted by SAMR, the national regulator coordinated with local market supervision bureaus to address discriminatory practices across six provincial-level regions where unreasonable credit evaluation criteria had been used to exclude or restrict non-local enterprises from participating in government procurement and bidding tenders. In another cross-regional enforcement effort, market regulators investigated and concluded cases across four provinces involving discriminatory highway toll pricing applied to non-local Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) cards, ensuring that fair pricing was restored to facilitate cross-provincial transport. Looking ahead to the upcoming 15th Five-Year Plan period, a SAMR official stated that market regulators will maintain robust enforcement to clear market bottlenecks and remove structural barriers. The regulator plans to emphasize the deterrent effect of typical cases while refining governance mechanisms to build a stable, transparent, and predictable market environment that supports high-quality economic development.