Anti-Trust in China – The Practitioner’s Guide

By Chris Devonshire-Ellis

Becky Koblitz, a specialist American anti-trust lawyer with Sheppard Mullin in Beijing, has just had her “Practitioner’s Guide to Anti-Trust in China” published by Kluwer.

Koblitz is a highly regarded lawyer in China, specializing in anti-monopoly cases and with a previous background with the US Justice Department. That expertise, now resident in Beijing, is indicative of how the best China legal counsel dealing with American concerns are now based in China, and not the United States. With fast moving and oft changing regulatory and political winds blowing through China, practicing lawyers increasingly need to be based in China to keep abreast of the dynamics concerning the country’s complex trade and regulatory issues and the differences of thinking that American and Chinese courts employ when reaching decisions. Fortunately, legal counsel such as Koblitz are resident and able to do so.

Her book is a concise yet detailed read that tells what there is to know about China’s antitrust enforcement and includes practical advice and examples of dealing with the various aspects of antitrust; handling competitors, supply chains and M&A.  She also writes in a clear manner, taking care to educate rather than pontificate when dealing with issues such as “abuse of dominance”, and “illicit price coordination”.  She also compares the economic and legal logical thinking differences between the American and Chinese courts, a key issue when constructing cases to be heard in China.

Very few professionals are able to project matters of Chinese law in an easy to understand manner, and with clarity and accuracy. Becky Koblitz has managed to do just that in a highly complex area of Chinese law, and this book is consequently the go to reference for antitrust issues affecting corporate American companies operating in China.    

The Practitioners Guide to Antitrust in China is available for US$149 from Kluwer.

The Asia Briefing bookstore also contains a significant number of China legal, tax and business guidebooks written for the China focused business executive, legal and tax counsel. 

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