Author’s Information:

Yanbei Meng: Professor, Faculty of Law, Renmin University of China.

Abstract

Markets achieve optimal resource allocation through free and fair competition. Without sufficient and fair competition, there is no true market economy. However, with the rise of new economies, new business models, and new modes, new forms of unfair competition involving data, algorithms, and platform rules have emerged and urgently need regulation. Given the rapid development of the digital economy and AI, how should the third revision of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law address issues related to data-driven unfair competition and respond to current practical problems? To this end, this journal has invited Professor Sun Jin, Director of the Center for Competition Law and Policy at Wuhan University, to lead this discussion, joined by Professors Meng Yanbei, Chen Bing, Xiao Shunwu, and Li Shengli, to explore the rules of fair competition in the digital economy era.

The digital economy, based on big data, cloud computing, and information communication technologies, along with the AI-powered smart economy, is the direction of economic development. As the foundational structure and core factor of the digital and smart economies, data has become an essential production element alongside labor, capital, land, and technology. Data is also a crucial resource and competitive element for business entities in the market. On November 22, 2022, the State Administration for Market Regulation released the "Draft for Public Comment on the Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People’s Republic of China," which includes Article 18 specifically for the protection of commercial data. The “Interim Provisions on Online Anti-Unfair Competition” released on May 6, 2024, and effective from September 1, 2024, also includes clauses related to data-driven unfair competition. The ongoing third revision of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law is focused on how to include provisions for data-related unfair competition, which is of great significance for strengthening data rights protection and empowering new forms of production.