In September, China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) published for consultation a draft regulation consolidating and updating its merger notification rules. Key points in the draft are:
- Interrelated transactions are treated as one concentration for China merger control purposes. This means that (consistently with previous MOFCOM decisions in such cases) parties need to notify before they implement the first of the interrelated transactions, although it does not in itself meet the filing threshold, as long as the overall transaction does.
- Turnover for joint ventures: The turnover of an entity jointly controlled by a number of undertakings involved in the concentration is to be apportioned equally among the controlling business operators.
Regrettably the draft does not provide any further clarification than the existing rules on the meaning of "control" for the purpose of triggering the filing obligation, so it will remain unclear in certain situations whether filing is required.
The consultation period closed on 9 October 2017. MOFCOM has indicated that it is aiming to issue the new regulation in final form by the end of 2017.
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