Commission and China start new dialogue on State aid control and discuss competition policy

Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy, Chairman He Lifeng and Vice Chairman Hu Zucai, both of China’s National Development and Reform Commission, held today in Beijing the first cooperation meeting on State aid control and Fair Competition Review as part of a new dialogue between the EU and China. At the meeting, the Commission and China’s National Development and Reform Commission reaffirmed the importance of cooperation on competition policy to ensure good economic relations between China and the EU. On 15 November, the Commissioner met Zhong Shan, China’s Minister of Commerce at the 10th meeting under the EU-China competition policy dialogue on antitrust and merger issues. Separately, the Commissioner also met State Administration of Industry and Commerce (SAIC) Minister Zhang Mao and the Chairman of China’s State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC) Xiao Yaqing. Commissioner Vestager said: “It is in our mutual interest to work together to promote fair global competition. Antitrust, merger review and State aid control are important tools in ensuring that consumers can benefit from competitive markets and companies can compete on their merits. Both the European Commission and the Chinese competition agencies will work closely together for a coherent and efficient competition enforcement.” A full press release is available in EN, FR, DE.