NDRC Issues Work Plan to Clean Up Discriminatory Policies

On December 12, 2017, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), along with the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) and Ministry of Finance (MOF) issued the 2017-2018 Work Plan to Overhaul Existing Policies and Measures the Exclude and/or Restrict Competition. The Work Plan is meant to implement the Opinions on Establishing A Fair Competition Review System in the Construction of Market System released by the State Council on June 14, 2016. According to the Opinions, the goal of fair competition review system is to "prevent the issuing of policies and measures that obstruct or restrict competition".
 
In accordance with the AML and the Opinions, the Work Plan calls on all State Council departments and all local and municipal governments and their relevant departments to clean up any regulations, circulars, policies, or measures that incorporate local protectionism, designated investment, or market access barriers. Specifically, the Work Plan lists the six following behaviors: 

1. Imposing unreasonable or discriminatory market entry and exit conditions;
2. Imposing restrictions on trading, purchase and usage of goods and services, for certain operators;
3. Imposing discriminatory prices or discriminatory subsidisation to the disfavour of non-local or imported products and services;
4. Imposing market entry restrictions on non-local or imported products and services or preventing the outflow of local products and services;
5. Preventing non-local operators from participating in local bidding and tendering; and
6. Requiring business operators to engage in monopolistic acts listed in the AML.