Chinese State Owned Enterprises and EU Merger Control

This book analyzes the specifics of corporate governance of China’s State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) and their assessment under EU merger control, which is reflected in the EU Commission’s screening of the notified economic concentrations.

Guided by the going global policy and the Belt and Road Initiative, Chinese SOEs have expanded their global presence considerably. Driven by the need to acquire cutting edge technologies and other industrial policy considerations, Chinese SOEs have engaged in a series of corporate acquisitions in Europe. The main objective of this book is to demonstrate the conceptual and regulatory challenges of applying traditional merger assessment tools in cases involving Chinese SOEs due to the specifics in their corporate governance and the regulatory framework under which they operate in China. The book also explores the connection between the challenges experienced by the merger control regimes in the EU and the recent introduction of the EU foreign direct investment screening framework followed by a proposal concerning foreign subsidies.

The book will be a useful guide for academics and researchers in the fields of law, international relations, political science, and political economy; legal practitioners dealing with cross-border mergers and acquisitions; national competition authorities and other public bodies carrying out merger control; policy makers, government officials, and diplomats in China and the EU engaged in bilateral economic relations.

Alexandr Svetlicinii is an associate professor at the University of Macau, Faculty of Law, where he also serves as Programme Coordinator of the Master of International Business Law in English Language. Prior to joining the University of Macau, Dr. Svetlicinii was a senior researcher at the Jean Monnet Chair of European Law at the Tallinn Law School, Tallinn University of Technology in Estonia. In addition to his academic work, Dr. Svetlicinii served as the Non-Governmental Advisor to the International Competition Network (working group Mergers) and acted as a consultant in a number of research projects of the European Commission.