General Course Information
1.1 Course details
| Course code: | LLAW6264 /JDOC6264 |
| Course name: | Competition Law and Policy in China |
| Programme offered under: | LLM Programme / JD Programme |
| Semester: | Second |
| Prerequisites / Co-requisites: | No |
| Credit point value: | 9 credits / 6 credits |
| Cap on student numbers: | 60 |
1.2 Course description
The unveiling of the Anti-Monopoly Law (the ML on August 30, 2007 marked a symbolic commencement of a new era of competition for China. Long heralded as the economic constitution, the AML is the first modern competition law adopted in China. Although China only began to enforce the law in 2008, Chinese administrative antitrust agencies have not shied away from bringing high-profile cases with lasting impact on both the domestic and global markets. For instance, in 2015, China National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) imposed a record-high fine against Qualcomm for charging excessive licensing fees in China, fueling speculation that China is using its competition policy to protect domestic industries from foreign competition. However, the AML has not only been applied to foreign firms. In recent years, there have been major revisions on the AML and related regulations to respond to the novel challenges faced by competition law, such as those from the digital sector.
This course aims to provide students with a comprehensive and in-depth understanding of the AML and its enforcement practice by situating the discussion in the broader institutional context of the Chinese political economy. It covers all the substantive aspects of the AML, including horizontal agreements, vertical agreements, abuse of dominance, concentrations, and abuse of administrative monopoly. It also covers the procedural aspects of the AML, including the enforcement structure, the administrative agencies, the courts, the merger review process, remedies, leniency and fines, and the newly introduced fair competition review system. More specifically, this course will introduce students to the major investigations brought by the administrative agencies and the leading cases decided by the Chinese courts in civil litigations. It will conduct a critical evaluation of the enforcement record by Chinese enforcement agencies and will compare enforcement practices in China and those in other major jurisdictions, such as the EU and the United States. To help students understand the pattern of enforcement, this course will also examine the forces that have propelled the active enforcement of the AML in recent years.
This course encourages active class participation. When appropriate, experienced practitioners and enforcers will be invited to share with students their experience and insights with Chinese antitrust practice. The course aims to develop skills that will be of benefit to those students who seek to enter professional practice after their degree, and those who would prefer a career in business. A range of practical skills will be developed including the ability to think broadly beyond just solving legal problems to considering how global businesses can adapt to the new regulatory environment in China.
1.3 Course teachers
| Name | E-mail address | Office | Consultation | |
| Course convenor | Liang Li | ll549@cantab.ac.uk | TBA | By email |
Learning Outcomes
2.1 Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) for this course
CLO 1 Understand the substantive and procedural aspects of the AML, including restrictive agreements, abuse of dominance, merger review and administrative monopoly.
CLO 2 Demonstrate an awareness of the main antitrust legislation and regulations in China.
CLO 3 Apply the provisions of the AML to analyze new legal contexts.
CLO 4 Demonstrate an awareness of the impact of the AML on global businesses.
2.2 LLM and JD Programme Learning Outcomes (PLOs)
Please refer to the following link:
LLM – https://course.law.hku.hk/llm-plo/
JD – https://course.law.hku.hk/jd-plo/
2.3 Programme Learning Outcomes to be achieved in this course
| PLO A | PLO B | PLO C | PLO D | PLO E | PLO F | |
| CLO 1 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 2 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 3 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 4 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Assessment(s)
3.1 Assessment Summary
| Assessment task | Weighting | Feedback method* | Course learning outcomes |
| Class attendance and participation | 30% | 5 | 1, 2, 3, 4 |
| Take-home exam | 70% | 1 | 1, 2, 3, 4 |
| *Feedback method (to be determined by course teacher) | |
| 1 | A general course report to be disseminated through Moodle |
| 2 | Individual feedback to be disseminated by email / through Moodle |
| 3 | Individual review meeting upon appointment |
| 4 | Group review meeting |
| 5 | In-class verbal feedback |
3.2 Assessment Detail
- Class attendance and participation (30%): This will comprise of a combination of class attendance and discussion participation.
- Take-home exam (70%): A 3-hour take-home examination consisting of multiple-choice questions, short-answer questions, and one or two essay question(s). All questions are related to the content covered in the course lectures. Late submissions will incur a penalty of 3 marks per hour. Any late submission of less than one hour will incur a penalty of 2 marks. The Law Faculty’s rules prohibiting cheating, plagiarism and taking unfair advantage apply strictly to take-home exam.
3.3 Grading Criteria
Please refer to the following link: https://www.law.hku.hk/_files/law_programme_grade_descriptors.pdf
Learning Activities
4.1 Learning Activity Plan
| Seminar: | 3 hours intensive course from January to April 2027 |
| Private study time: | 10 hours / week for 11 teaching weeks |
Remarks: the normative student study load per credit unit is 25 ± 5 hours (ie. 150 ± 30 hours for a 6-credit course), which includes all learning activities and experiences within and outside of classroom, and any assessment task and examinations and associated preparations.
4.2 Details of Learning Activities
Please refer to the Course Outline on Moodle.
Learning Resources
5.1 Resources
| Reading materials: | Will be posted on Moodle with the progress of the course |
| Core reading list: | Will be provided with the progress of the course |
| Recommended reading list: | Will be provided with the progress of the course |
5.2 Links
Please refer to the following link: http://www.law.hku.hk/course/learning-resources/