18th EU-China Competition Week

Monday 18 March 2019

Implementation of EU State Aid – Perspective from EU and Member States

08:45-09:00: Registration

09:00-09:15: Opening remarks

• Mr YAN Jun, Director General, Price Supervision and Anti-Unfair Competition Bureau, State Administration for Market Regulation, PRC
• Mr Torben TOFT, Senior Expert, International Relations Unit, Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission, Brussels

09:15-12:30: Session I – Operation of State Aid in the EU

Moderator: Ms Hilary JENNINGS, Special Adviser on Competition Policy, Competition Cooperation Project

Overview:

• Rationale for EU State aid policy
• Basic principles of EU State aid policy, including: prohibition; Treaty exemptions; procedure (notification and standstill obligation, legal and illegal aid, compatible and incompatible aid, implications of illegality and incompatibility); compatibility assessment
• The notion of aid
• State aid procedure: notified aid; illegal aid; existing aid; recovery

Presentation by

• Mr Miek VAN DER WEE, former Head of Unit, Infrastructure and Regional Aid Unit, Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission, Brussels
• Ms Anita GYÜRKÉS, Head of Department, State Aid Monitoring Office, Hungary

Discussion and commentary by

• Madam LI Qing, Expert, China Society of Economic Reform / former Director-General Level Official, Price Supervision and Anti-Unfair Competition Bureau, State Administration for Market Regulation, PRC
• Mr HUANG  Yong, Professor, University of International Business and Economics, Beijing

Roundtable discussion and Q&A session

12:30-14:00: Lunch

14:00-17:30: Session II – Implementation of State Aid in the EU and at the national level

Moderator: Ms Hilary JENNINGS, Special Adviser on Competition Policy, Competition Cooperation Project

Overview:

• General Block Exemption Regulation and its implementation at the national level
• Compatibility assessment criteria for State aid
• Case study on regional aid investment rules

Presentation by

• Ms Anita GYÜRKÉS, Head of Department, State Aid Monitoring Office, Hungary
• Mr Miek VAN DER WEE, former Head of Unit, Infrastructure and Regional Aid Unit, Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission, Brussels

Discussion and commentary by

• Mr FU Wenbiao, Director General, Development and Research Centre, State Administration for Market Regulation, PRC
• Madam LI Qing, Expert, China Society of Economic Reform / former Director General Level Official, Price Supervision and Anti-Unfair Competition Bureau, State Administration for Market Regulation

Discussion with all experts and Q&A session

Tuesday 19 March 2019

Process of monitoring and implementing the Fair Competition Review System
and State Aid at the Provincial/local levels and EU Member State level

08:45-09:00: Registration

09:00-12:00: Session II continued – Implementation at the national level and monitoring of State aid rules

Moderator: Ms Hilary JENNINGS, Special Adviser on Competition Policy, Competition Cooperation Project

Overview

• National case study on notified regional aid
• Complaints – procedures and case study
• Transparency provisions in State aid
• Ex-post monitoring activity

Presentation by

• Ms Anita GYÜRKÉS, Head of Department, State Aid Monitoring Office, Hungary
• Mr Miek VAN DER WEE, former Head of Unit, Infrastructure and Regional Aid Unit, Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission, Brussels

Discussion and commentary by

• Mr ZHU Kai, Official, Price Supervision and Anti-Unfair Competition Bureau, State Administration for Market Regulation, PRC
• Ms MENG Yanbei, Professor, Renmin University of China, Beijing

Roundtable discussion and Q&A session

12:00-13:30: Lunch

13:30-16:45: Session III – Process of monitoring Fair Competition Review System at Provincial/local levels

Moderator: Ms Hilary JENNINGS, Special Adviser on Competition Policy, Competition Cooperation Project

Overview

• Progress of the implementation of FCRS
• Mechanism innovation of FCRS
• Case study

Presentations by

• Ms YANG Jiajia, Director, Price Supervision and Anti-Unfair Competition Bureau, State Administration for Market Regulation, PRC
• Mr JU Hanfang, Director, Anti-Monopoly Law Division, Jiangsu AMR

Discussion and commentary by

• Mr Miek VAN DER WEE, former Head of Unit, Infrastructure and Regional Aid Unit, Director-General for Competition, European Commission, Brussels
• Ms Anita GYÜRKÉS, Head of Department, State Aid Monitoring Office, Hungary
• Ms MENG Yanbei, Professor, Renmin University of China, Beijing

Roundtable discussion and Q&A session

16:45 – 17:00: Closing remarks

• Mr Torben TOFT, Senior Expert, International Relations Unit, Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission, Brussels
• Mr YANG Hongfeng, Deputy Director General Level Official, Price Supervision and Anti-Unfair Competition Bureau, State Administration for Market Regulation, PRC

Wednesday 20 March 2019

Mergers: Notion of control and the assessment of Joint Ventures as
merger transactions or agreements

08:45-09:00: Registration

09:00-09:15: Opening remarks

• Anti-Monopoly Bureau, State Administration for Market Regulation, PRC
• Mr Torben TOFT, Senior Expert, International Relations Unit, Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission, Brussels

09:15-12:00: Session I – The notion of control in merger review

Moderator: Ms Hilary JENNINGS, Special Adviser on Competition Policy, Competition Cooperation Project

Overview

• Uses of the notion of control in merger review
• Acquisition of control
• Exceptions
• Practical examples

Presentations by

• Ms Marta ANDRÉS VAQUERO, Case Handler, Merger Case Support and Policy Unit, Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission, Brussels
• Mr XU Lefu, Deputy Director General, Anti-Monopoly Bureau, State Administration for Market Regulation, PRC

Roundtable discussion and Q&A session

12:00-13:30: Lunch

13:30-17:00: Session II – Assessment of joint ventures in merger review

Moderator: Ms Hilary JENNINGS, Special Adviser on Competition Policy, Competition Cooperation Project

Overview

• Relevant merger situation and the concept of full-functionality
• Different types of joint ventures
• Competitive analysis
• Case developments

 Presentations by

• Ms Marta ANDRÉS VAQUERO, Case Handler, Merger Case Support and Policy Unit, Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission, Brussels
• Ms HU Xinyue, Deputy Director Level Official, Anti-Monopoly Bureau, State Administration for Market Regulation, PRC

Roundtable discussion and Q&A session with all speakers and experts

Thursday 21 March 2019

Antitrust: Role of competition law in Standard Essential Patent licensing and
a discussion on excessive pricing and Resale Price Maintenance

08:45-09:00: Registration

09:00-11:30: Session I – SEPs and pricing mechanisms – what role for competition law?

Moderator: Ms Hilary JENNINGS, Special Adviser on Competition Policy, Competition Cooperation Project

Overview:

• Balancing IPR and competition
• Calculating FRAND terms
• Implication of EU and MS court decisions
• Implications of AML enforcement and private litigation court decisions
• Use of court injunctions or customs blocks – legitimate use of IP rights or an abuse of dominance?

Presentation by

• Mr Gunnar WOLF, Case Handler, IT, Internet and Consumer Electronics Unit, Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission, Brussels

Discussion and commentary by

• Mr ZENG Chuan, Official, Anti-Monopoly Bureau, State Administration for Market Regulation, PRC

Roundtable discussion and Q&A session

12:30-13:00: Lunch

13:30-15:45: Session II – SEPs and competition – regulatory choices

Moderator: Ms Hilary JENNINGS, Special Adviser on Competition Policy, Competition Cooperation Project

Overview

• SEPs and competition law: approach in China
• Exploitative or exclusionary abuses
• Identifying dominance of SEP owners
• Identifying undue exclusion in SEP owners’ hold-up conduct
• …

Presentation by

• Mr ZENG Chuan, Official, Anti-Monopoly Bureau, State Administration for Market Regulation, PRC
• Ms CHEN Qianting, Official, Anti-Monopoly Bureau, State Administration for Market Regulation, PRC

Discussion and commentary by

• Mr Gunnar WOLF, Case Handler, IT, Internet and Consumer Electronics Unit, Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission, Brussels

Q&A session

Roundtable discussion on excessive pricing (45 minutes)

• Excessive pricing – what is excessive / excessive compared to what?
• How to measure excessive pricing?

Discussion with Mr Gunnar WOLF, Case Handler, IT, Internet and Consumer Electronics Unit, DG Competition, Brussels and Ms CHEN Qianting, AMB, SAMR, PRC

15:45 – 17:15: Session III – Roundtable discussion on Resale Price Maintenance – a comparison of EU and Chinese case law developments

Overview:

• EU and China’s approach to Resale Price Maintenance

Discussion with

• Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission, Brussels
• Ms QI Shuanglin, Official, Anti-Monopoly Bureau, State Administration for Market Regulation, PRC

Commentary and discussion with experts and Q&A session

17:15 – 17:30: Closing remarks

• Mr Torben TOFT, Senior Expert, International Relations Unit, Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission, Brussels
• Anti-Monopoly Bureau, State Administration for Market Regulation, PRC