China's top market regulator vows crackdown on cutthroat competition

Delivery employees pass through Beijing's central business district on Feb 20. (ZHAO WENYU/CHINA NEWS SERVICE)

China's top market regulator has pledged a sweeping crackdown on cutthroat competition, warning that relentless price wars and copycat tactics would hinder innovation.

The latest push marked Beijing's push to regulate overheated markets, including online food delivery sector, without over intervention.

In a commentary published in People's Daily on Friday, Luo Wen, head of the State Administration for Market Regulation, warned that vicious undercutting and endless internal competition were creating a toxic loop in some industries — leading to wasted resources, inefficiency and stagnation in innovation.

"In some sectors, a cycle of cutthroat rivalry has emerged, choking enterprise innovation and obstructing the upgrade of industrial structures," Luo said, referring to the phenomenon of excessive competition yielding diminishing returns.

Luo said regulators would strengthen enforcement against illegal pricing and unfair competition, including tactics such as fake promotions, malicious price comparisons, and predatory discounting.

He also emphasized plans to revise key legislation — including laws on pricing, e-commerce, and unfair competition — and to introduce new regulatory frameworks tailored to live-streaming and online marketplaces.

The regulator will also issue compliance guidelines for pricing in sensitive sectors and step up enforcement on intellectual property rights in the digital space, targeting fake goods and copyright violations in livestream commerce and online sales, he said.