On the morning of June 24, 2024, the Supreme People's Court held a press conference to issue judicial interpretations on antitrust civil litigation, releasing the "Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Monopoly Civil Disputes" and recent typical antitrust cases of the People's Court, and answered questions from reporters. The press conference was attended by Tao Kaiyuan, Vice President of the Supreme People's Court, He Zhonglin, Deputy Chief Judge of the Intellectual Property Court of the Supreme People's Court, Zhu Li, Deputy Chief Judge of the Intellectual Property Court of the Supreme People's Court, and Yu Xiaohan, a Senior Judge of the Intellectual Property Court of the Supreme People's Court. The press conference was hosted by Lin Wenxue, spokesperson of the Supreme People's Court.

On the second anniversary of the amendment of the "Anti-Monopoly Law of the People's Republic of China" (hereinafter referred to as the "Anti-Monopoly Law"), the Supreme People's Court of China issued the "Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Monopoly Civil Disputes" (hereinafter referred to as the new judicial interpretation of antitrust civil litigation). This judicial interpretation will take effect on July 1, 2024, and will play an important role in guiding people's courts at all levels to fairly and efficiently try antitrust civil cases for a considerable period of time in the future. This judicial interpretation is a new comprehensive judicial interpretation formulated based on the effective experience and practices of the "Regulations of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Civil Disputes Caused by Monopoly Behavior" (hereinafter referred to as the 2012 "Monopoly Civil Cases Regulations") promulgated in May 2012 and according to the amended "Anti-Monopoly Law" of 2022. According to the relevant introduction of the Supreme People's Court on June 24, 2024, the background, drafting process, basic principles, and main content of this judicial interpretation are as follows.

I. Background and Drafting Process of the Judicial Interpretation

Competition is the fundamental principle of the market economy, and antitrust is an inherent requirement of the market economy. Strengthening antitrust is the objective demand for the healthy development of the socialist market economy, conducive to promoting the organic combination of an effective government and an efficient market, maintaining fair competition order, promoting the construction of a unified national market and a new development pattern, and achieving high-quality development. Antitrust civil litigation is an important channel for the implementation of the Anti-Monopoly Law and also an important field of adjudication for people's courts. From 2013 to 2023, courts nationwide concluded 977 first-instance monopoly civil cases. Since its establishment in January 2019 until the end of May 2024, the Intellectual Property Court of the Supreme People's Court has accepted 178 monopoly civil cases and concluded 131, with several cases having significant implications and social impact. The Supreme People's Court has successively issued 3 guiding cases on antitrust, released four batches of 28 typical antitrust cases, all of which have been included in the case database of the People's Court. The antitrust civil trial work of the People's Court has made significant progress in system construction, experience accumulation, and rule clarification, actively contributing to the maintenance of a unified, open, and well-ordered market competition mechanism.

In recent years, the central government has attached great importance to antitrust law enforcement and judicial work, and social attention has also increased. The "Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Accelerating the Construction of a Unified National Market" issued on March 25, 2022, called for "strengthening and improving antitrust and anti-unfair competition law enforcement and judicial work" and "focusing on strengthening antitrust and improving the rules for identifying monopoly behavior." In October 2022, the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China for the first time included antitrust and anti-unfair competition in its report, requiring "strengthening antitrust and anti-unfair competition, breaking down local protection and administrative monopolies, and regulating and guiding the healthy development of capital according to the law." The amended Anti-Monopoly Law of 2022 explicitly stipulates "strengthening antitrust law enforcement and judicial work, fairly and efficiently trying monopoly cases according to the law, and improving the mechanism for the connection between administrative law enforcement and judicial work to maintain fair competition order." At the same time, the law clarifies the basic rules for the application of antitrust-related systems in the platform economy field, improves the rules for identifying vertical agreements, adds provisions for regulating behaviors that organize the conclusion of monopoly agreements and provide substantial assistance for the conclusion of monopoly agreements, and increases the penalties for monopoly behaviors. The new requirements of the central government and the new provisions of the Anti-Monopoly Law urgently need to be implemented in judicial work, effectively strengthening antitrust judicial efforts, and further improving the refinement and standardization of antitrust judicial work.

The 2012 "Monopoly Civil Cases Regulations" mainly established the basic framework of the monopoly civil case litigation system but did not explain or stipulate the judicial application of the substantive provisions of the Anti-Monopoly Law, which is difficult to meet the needs of judicial practice. The Supreme People's Court attaches great importance to the drafting of the new judicial interpretation of antitrust civil litigation. From its establishment as a project in 2021 to the present, it has taken three years, during which it has solicited opinions from internal and external units and local courts in five rounds, held multiple expert demonstration meetings, and publicly solicited opinions from the public on November 18, 2022. Based on the comprehensive opinions from various aspects, after multiple discussions, revisions, and research demonstrations, a draft for review was formed and submitted to the Judicial Committee of the Supreme People's Court for deliberation and approval.

II.  Basic Principles of Drafting the Judicial Interpretation

During the drafting process, the Supreme People's Court consistently adhered to the following five basic principles:

1. Adherence to Political Leadership: Effectively implementing the requirements of the Central Committee. Through the formulation of the new judicial interpretation on antitrust civil litigation, the relevant instructions and directives of General Secretary Xi Jinping and the Central Committee's requirements on strengthening and improving antitrust judicial work and perfecting the legal rules for identifying monopoly behaviors were thoroughly implemented.

2. Adherence to Legal Interpretation: Accurately reflecting the legislative spirit. Based on an accurate understanding and comprehensive grasp of the basic tenets and key points of the amended Anti-Monopoly Law, targeted and operable adjudication rules were formulated to ensure that the judicial interpretation aligns with the original legislative intent.

3. Problem-Oriented Approach: Actively adapting to the development of new economic models and new challenges in international competition. The development of the digital economy has led to complex and profound changes at the economic and legal levels, necessitating judicial interpretations to provide regulations on new dimensions and methods of analysis and judgment. Sensitive issues such as the balance of intellectual property protection involved in antitrust and international parallel litigation require normative guidance from judicial interpretations.

4.Practice-Based Approach: Carefully summarizing antitrust enforcement and judicial experience. The courts have accumulated rich experience in practical case handling, which needs to be thoroughly reviewed and summarized to address problems more effectively. Additionally, the enforcement practices and normative documents such as regulations and guidelines issued by antitrust enforcement agencies provide abundant reference materials for the courts to refine the adjudication rules for antitrust civil disputes.

5. Inclusiveness and Openness: Fully absorbing domestic and international theoretical research outcomes. In recent years, there has been substantial progress in antitrust theoretical research both domestically and internationally, with valuable new research outcomes constantly emerging. The judicial interpretation incorporates and transforms the latest theoretical achievements from home and abroad into practical guidelines, reflecting the scientific and advanced nature of China's antitrust judicial rules.

III. Main Content of the Judicial Interpretation

The new judicial interpretation on antitrust civil litigation systematically regulates issues related to antitrust civil litigation by absorbing and merging all the provisions of the 2012 "Monopoly Civil Cases Regulations." Among them, 9 articles basically follow the provisions of the 2012 judicial interpretation, 5 articles have been substantively revised or supplemented, and the sequence has been adjusted accordingly based on the new judicial interpretation's systematic logic. Additionally, 37 new articles have been added, mainly involving the interpretation and application of the substantive provisions of the amended Anti-Monopoly Law.

The new judicial interpretation on antitrust civil litigation consists of 51 articles divided into six parts:

1. Procedural Matters: This part focuses on procedural issues, including the definition of monopoly civil disputes, methods of filing lawsuits, case jurisdiction, consolidated trials, evidence recognition, public interest litigation, and suspension of litigation.

2. Definition of Relevant Market: Defining the relevant market is a fundamental and prerequisite step in antitrust enforcement and judicial work, characterized by strong technicality and professionalism. This part mainly stipulates the principles, burden of proof, analysis methods, and considerations for defining the relevant market.

3. Monopoly Agreements: This part mainly regulates horizontal monopoly agreements, including coordinated behavior, subjects of action, reverse payment agreements for drug patents, algorithm agreements, cross-platform most-favored-nation treatment, and the burden of proof, anti-competitive effect recognition, and exceptions for vertical monopoly agreements, as well as organizational assistance and exemptions for monopoly agreements.

4. Abuse of Market Dominance: This part includes the definition of market dominance and the analysis and recognition of various types of abuse of market dominance behaviors.

5. Civil Liability: This part mainly covers forms of civil liability, loss determination, the effectiveness of behavior, and statute of limitations.

6. Supplementary Provisions: This part mainly addresses the transitional application of the old and new Anti-Monopoly Law and the temporal effectiveness of the judicial interpretation.

The development and evolution from the 2012 "Monopoly Civil Cases Regulations" to the new judicial interpretation on antitrust civil litigation reflect the courts' understanding and grasp of antitrust adjudication principles reaching a new level and realm. The People's Courts will use this as an opportunity to continuously strengthen antitrust judicial work, consistently creating new prospects for antitrust adjudication, correctly implementing the Anti-Monopoly Law, maintaining fair market competition, and encouraging innovation. This will provide stronger judicial services and guarantees for the construction of a unified national market and the promotion and development of new productive forces.