CARY HUANG

The mainland's first comprehensive anti-monopoly law is expected to be passed by the National People's Congress next year.

Ministry of Commerce officials have dubbed 2005 the "year of commercial legislation", with a dozen laws covering commercial activities to be enacted.

Chief among them is the anti-monopoly law, which was unveiled at the ministry's working conference in Beijing on Friday and Saturday, the Shanghai-based Oriental Morning Post reported yesterday.

The formulation of the anti-monopoly law, dubbed an "economic constitution" by experts, has been under way for a decade. Earlier reports had quoted experts as saying that it would take at least another two years of study and discussion before the NPC could pass it.

The legislation would be timely, with the mainland economy entering the final phase of its World Trade Organisation membership grace period tomorrow. That will require Beijing to fully implement a policy of treating all companies, foreign and domestic, the same.

A Shanghai municipal official who attended the ministry meeting told a forum in the city that the draft law was recently submitted to the NPC, the national parliament, for final consideration.

In March, the draft was submitted to the State Council's Legislative Affairs Office. Draft laws produced by ministries and agencies first go the State Council's Legislative Affairs Office and its Standing Committee before being submitted to the national legislature.

The NPC usually approves draft laws submitted by the cabinet. But debate and amendments have become increasingly common as the parliament battles to shed criticism that it is a rubber-stamp legislature.

Until the law is completed, a newly formed office under the Ministry of Commerce has been charged with addressing monopoly-related complaints.

The Shanghai official said that enacting an anti-monopoly law was imperative because an increase in monopolistic activities by interest groups was obstructing the development of a market economy.

An investigation by the State Administration of Industry and Commerce in May suggested that multinational giants Microsoft and Kodak were abusing their dominant positions in technology and brand recognition to suppress domestic competitors. Reports also indicated that rampant administrative monopolies and local protectionism were hindering efforts to establish a level playing field for mainland businesses.

The proposed law was first listed on the NPC Standing Committee's legislative agenda in 1994. It was also included in the ninth NPC's legislative plan in 1998, the 10th NPC's plan last year and listed in the State Council's legislative plan this year.

The need for such a law was recognised as early as August 1987, when a law drafting taskforce was set up in what was then the State Council's Legal Affairs Bureau.