Page 122 - 2017 White Paper

7 White Paper on the Business Environment in China
In the Draft, said Article is amended to:
“Article 15: In investigating acts of unfair competition, refuse or impede the supervision and inspection”.
the supervision and inspection authorities are entitled to
exercise the following functions and powers:
· to enter the operating premises or other premises
related to the acts under investigation for inspection;
· to question the operators under suspicion, interested
parties or other related units or individuals and requiring
them to provide documentary evidence, data or
technological support or other information related to
acts of unfair competition;
· to inquire and copy written agreements, books of
account, receipts, bills, vouchers, invoices, documents,
records, business correspondence, electronic data,
audio-visual materials and other materials related to the
acts under investigation; and
· to order the operators under investigation to
temporarily stop the acts suspected of being illegal, to
explain the source and quantity of the properties related
to the acts under investigation and not to remove,
conceal or destroy these goods;
· to seal up or attaching the properties of the acts
suspected of involving unfair competition;
· to inquire of the bank accounts of operators suspected
of being involved in acts of unfair competition and the
accounting vouchers, books of accounts, statements of
accounts, etc. related to deposits; or
· to apply to the judicial authorities to freeze illegal
funds if there is evidence that proves acts of transferring
or concealing illegal funds”.
This Article intensifies the authority of the supervising reads, “for an investigation conducted by the supervision
authorities’ power to investigate and collect evidence,
administrates compulsory measures, and refines the
procedures of investigation.
(4) Article 19 of the current law reads that,
“when the supervising and inspecting authorities are
supervising and inspecting acts of unfair competition,
the operators under inspection, interested parties and
witnesses shall truthfully provide them with relevant data
or information”.
In the Draft, the above Article is amended to:
“Article 16: When the supervising and inspecting
authorities are investigating acts of unfair competition,
the operators under inspection, interested parties or
other relevant units of individuals shall truthfully provide
them with relevant data or information and cooperate
with the supervising and inspecting authorities to
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perform their duties pursuant to the law and may not
This Article expands and clarifies the operators and the
relevant personnel who are obligated to cooperate with
the investigation, thus providing stronger protection in
the practice of law enforcement.
(5) The Draft adds an additional Article 21 which reads,
“should operators violate the provisions of Article 8
of this Law, the supervising and inspecting authorities
shall order them to stop their illegal acts, and impose a
fine on them that is more than three times their illegal
business revenue and less than five times of it; if there
is no illegal business revenue or the illegal business
revenue is unable to be calculated, impose a fine more
than 100,000 yuan and less than one million yuan
according to the circumstances; if the circumstance is
severe, the authorities may revoke the business licenses
of said operators; if the illegal activities constitute a crime,
criminal responsibilities shall be investigated pursuant to
law”.
Compared with the current law, this Article supersedes
“illegal gains” with “illegal business revenue” as the basis
of punishment, and provides punishment for a situation
where illegal operating revenue cannot be calculated,
strengthening operability and reflecting the principle of
suitable punishment for wrongdoing.
(6) The Draft adds an additional Article 30, which
and inspection department according to law, unless
the operator refuses to provide relevant materials or
information with a legitimate cause, or provides false
materials or information; transfers, conceals or destroys
the evidence, or engages in other acts that reject or
impede the investigation, the supervision and inspection
department shall order it to make rectification, and
impose a fine of not less than 20,000 yuan but not more
than 200,000 yuan”.
This Article provides a correspondent penalty for
operators and their relevant personnel who refuse
to perform their obligations of cooperating with the
investigators specified in Article 16 of the Draft.