Anti-trust probe may be extended

China could extend its anti-trust investigations into the petroleum, banking and telecommunications industries, a senior official has said, as the government is determined to cut prices for ordinary people.

His remark came as the government deepened efforts in recent months to investigate wrongdoings in sectors from drugs to baby formula and jewelry, involving a number of multinational companies.

The next target could be an industry that has a direct impact on the lives of ordinary Chinese, said Xu Kunlin, head of the anti-monopoly bureau at the National Development and Reform Commission, China.s top economic planning agency and price regulator.

Speaking on a China Central Television program, Xu said petroleum, telecom, automobile and banking are on the NDRC.s radar.

He warned that banks would be investigated if they fix deposit and lending rates once China liberalizes interest rates.

But sectors like petroleum may not be an obvious target, analysts said, because the maximum fuel retail prices in China are set by the NDRC itself.

Last week, the NDRC levied fines of 669 million yuan (US$109 million) on six milk powder companies, including Mead Johnson and Abbott, for price-fixing. Nine companies involved in the probe also agreed to price cuts that could save Chinese consumers 2.4 billion yuan per year, as estimated by Chinese media.

This week, the China Automobile Dealers Association said it was collecting price data of foreign cars sold in China for the NDRC.

Also this week, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, which is in charge of market supervision, launched a three-month probe into bribery in the pharmaceutical and medical-device industries. The probe came on top of an unfolding crackdown on the pharmaceutical industry, following the detention of some Chinese executives of UK drug giant GlaxoSmithKline, who were accused of bribing doctors and hospitals to prescribe drugs, driving up prices.