The following post appears courtesy of the Antitrust Division 

First Meetings after Signing of Antitrust Memorandum of Understanding

Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole met with the Chinese National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) Vice Chairman Hu Zucai on Monday, September 24, 2012.

 Justice Department Acting Assistant Attorney General Joseph Wayland participated in high-level meetings with Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairman Jon Leibowitz and officials from China’s three antitrust agencies – Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) Vice Minister Gao Hucheng, National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) Vice Chairman Hu Zucai and State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) Vice Minister Teng Jiacai.  

Today’s meeting was the first joint dialogue between the U.S. Antitrust Agencies and the Chinese Antimonopoly Agencies since the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the five agencies on July 27, 2011.

The meetings took place at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., over two days.  Justice Department Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole met with NDRC Vice Chairman Hu yesterday.

These were the first high-level meetings of the agencies since the Justice Department and FTC signed the antitrust Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Chinese antitrust agencies on July 27, 2011.  The officials discussed promoting competition in a global economy and various aspects of general civil and criminal antitrust enforcement.

Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division Joseph Wayland and FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz with Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) Vice Minister Gao Hucheng and State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) Vice Minister Teng Jiacai

The MOU is designed to promote communication and cooperation among the agencies in the two countries.  The MOU provides for periodic high-level consultations among all five agencies.