New Anti-unfair Competition Law: Brief Review and Comparison

30 Jul 2025

by Cathy Wang, Fredrick Xie

On June 26th, the National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China released the new edition of Anti-unfair Competition Law, which will be effective starting from Oct 15th, 2025. This would be the fourth revision of the AUCL since its first publication on 1993, and also the finalization of three draft revisions of the AUCL since 2022.

In general, we can see AUCL 2025 is more of making “fine-tuning” instead of trying to make a big change. Indeed, we can see Chinese authority believes the framework and main systems of the current AUCL are feasible, while when facing development of new technologies and new business models, it is trying to better regulate and prevent unfair competition activity by using technologies (algorithms, platform rules and big data), and in the meantime trying to improve those already existing but long-standing unfair competition activities (commercial bribery, etc.).

Invoking Fair Competition Review System

Art. 3 of AUCL 2025 added that “The state shall establish and improve the fair competition review system, strengthen the works relating to fair competition review in accordance with the law, and ensure that all types of business operators use production factors on an equal basis in accordance with the law and participate in market competition fairly.”

Such indication seemed to be formalizing the Regulation on the Review of Fair Competition (August 2024) and Measures for the Implementation of the Regulations on Fair Competition Review (April 2025), where majority of the content is requesting the law makers, policy makers shall conduct a review relating to fair competition.

Expanding and More Detailed Regulation relating to Confusion Activities

Article 7 of the 2025 AUCL significantly expands the range of protectable identifiers (to include general "names," social media, and apps), reduces interpretative ambiguity for enforcement, and explicitly defines and prohibits new digital-era confusion tactics like unauthorized trademark use in shop registrations and keyword squatting, while also introducing secondary liability for operators aiding such confusion.

Art. 7.2 AUCL 2025 specified that “names” having certain influence shall be protected. Such indication expanded the scope of protection compared to Art. 6.2 AUCL 2019, where it only indicated that “company names” and “the names of social organizations” are protectable.
Art. 7.3 AUCL 2025 added that the names of social media accounts, names and icons of the APP are protectable. Our understanding here would be it is trying to leave less space of interpretation for courts / authorities / platforms, so that they have less excuses not to take action.
Art. 7.4 AUCL 2025 specifically prohibits using someone’s registered or unregistered well-known trademark as a trade name during company registration, setting another entity's business identifiers (product name, company name, registered trademark, unregistered well-known trademark) as search keywords. Business operators are also explicitly forbidden from assisting others in committing these specified confusion acts.

Fine-tuning in Commercial Bribery

The revision reflects a tougher stance against commercial bribery, emphasizing accountability for individuals, having an individual directly enforceable by market supervision authorities.

Art. 8 explicitly ban on Bribe Acceptance. New clause prohibits units/individuals (e.g., businesses, employees, third parties) from accepting bribes, closing a loophole in prior laws that focused only on bribe-giving.
Art. 24 set forth a penalty relating to commercial briberies imposed directly to the individuals. Penalties now apply directly to individuals (not just organizations), including leaders and bribe recipients.

More Detailed Digital Competition Governance

Article 13 AUCL 2025 retains original prohibitions against cyber-sabotage tactics likeforced redirects, service disruption, and malicious incompatibility but critically expands coverage for modern digital threats, specifying methods using data / algorithms / platform rules shall also be subjected to governance.

In the meantime, it also explicitly banned obtaining/using competitors’ data through fraud, coercion, or technical circumvention (e.g., scraping paywalled content), provided such acts infringe rights and disrupt market order.

Platform rules manipulationis now directly targeted: operators cannot abuse rules to orchestrate false transactions, fake reviews, malicious returns, or instruct third parties to execute these schemes. This closes loopholes allowing synthetic attacks on competitor’s reputation or operations within digital ecosystems.

Enhanced Platform Accountability: Combating Predatory Pricing & Strengthening Governance

AUCL 2025 imposes rigorous obligations on platform operators to ensure fair competition. Article 14 explicitly prohibits platforms from forcing, overtly or covertly, in-platform sellers to price goods below cost, a practice that distorts market competition.

To operate this, Article 21 mandates platforms to: embed fair competition rules in their service agreements; establish reporting / dispute mechanisms for unfair practices; act promptly against violators (including retention records and reporting to authorities).

This triad of provisions creates aself-policing framework, compelling platforms to proactively deter anti-competitive behavior while facing severe penalties for non-compliance. How the platform would act in accordance with this article, how authority would enforce a violation done by the platform, we hope to see practical cases coming out soon.

Protecting SMEs from Abusive Contractual Practices

AUCL 2025 directly addresses power imbalances between large enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Article 15 prohibits dominant players from abusing advantages in capital, technology, or market influence to force SMEs into accepting unfair terms, including exploitative payment conditions, one-sided liability clauses, or deliberate delays in settling invoices for goods or services.

Enforcement is operationalized through Article 31, which establishes a tiered provincial-level enforcement regime: regulators first order violators to rectify misconduct within a set deadline; failure to comply will trigger a substantial fine. This "correct-then-penalize" approach incentivizes timely remediation while imposing meaningful consequences for systemic abuse.

How provincial authorities define "obviously unreasonable terms" in cross-industry contexts, and whether SMEs facing dependency relationships will risk reporting violations, will determine the efficacy of these regulations.

Extraterritorial Reach: Safeguarding Domestic Market from Unfair Competition Activity Oversea

Article 40 AUCL 2025 asserts the law’s jurisdiction over unfair competition acts occurring outside China that disrupt domestic market order or harm Chinese businesses/consumers. This critical expansion empowers regulators to address foreign entities manipulating markets, hijacking domestic brands via cross-border platforms, or targeting Chinese consumers with deceptive practices - even if orchestrated from abroad.

Our feeling here is that this clause is not only targeting non-Chinese entities, it is also designed to target those mega Chinese companies that is going aboard, but at the price of hurting SMEs.

With this clause, it is clear that the law maker is trying to plug the loophole for some companies trying to set up their business outside of China so as to avoid jurisdiction.

To summarize, China's updated AUCL isn't about rewriting the rules, it's more about making them work better for today’s world. The changes specifically target new tricks in the digital age while strengthening protections for smaller businesses. From online impersonation and fake reviews to big companies bullying suppliers or dodging responsibility by moving operations overseas, the law aims to close these loopholes.

While real-world enforcement remains to be seen, the message is clear: China is targeting mega companies, no matter domestic or abroad, and trying to protect small and medium companies that is playing fairly in the market.

Comparison Anti-unfair Competition Law 2019 vs 2025

Anti-unfair Competition Law (2019)	Anti-unfair Competition Law (2025)
Chapter 1 General Principles	Chapter 1 General Principles
Article 1 This Law is formulated for the purposes of promoting healthy development of the socialist market economy, encouraging and protecting fair competition, stopping unfair competition, and protecting the legitimate rights and interests of business operators and consumers.	Article 1 This Law is formulated for the purposes of promoting healthy development of the socialist market economy, encouraging and protecting fair competition, preventing andstopping unfair competition, and protecting the legitimate rights and interests of business operators and consumers.
Article 2 Business operators shall adhere to the principles of voluntary participation, equality, fairness and integrity in their production and business operation, and comply with laws and business ethics. Unfair competition referred to in this Law shall mean the behavior of an operator who violates the provisions of this Law in its production and business operation, disrupts market competition order, or harms the legitimate rights and interests of other business operators or consumers. Business operators referred to in this Law shall mean natural persons, legal persons and non-legal persons engaging in manufacturing and business operation of goods, or provision of services (the goods referred to hereinafter include services).	Article 2 Business operators shall adhere to the principles of voluntary participation, equality, fairness and integrity in their production and business operation, comply with laws and business ethics and participate in competition fairly. Unfair competition referred to in this Law shall mean the behavior of an operator who violates the provisions of this Law in its production and business operation, disrupts market competition order, or harms the legitimate rights and interests of other business operators or consumers. Business operators referred to in this Law shall mean natural persons, legal persons and non-legal persons engaging in manufacturing and business operation of goods, or provision of services (the goods referred to hereinafter include services).
	Article 3 The work against unfair competition adheres to the leadership of the Communist Party of China. The state improves and perfects the rules and systems against unfair competition, strengthens law enforcement and judicial proceedings against unfair competition, maintains the order of market competition, and improves a unified, open, competitive and orderly market system. The state shall establish and improve the fair competition review system, strengthen the fair competition review work in accordance with the law, and ensure that all types of business operators use production factors on an equal basis in accordance with the law and participate in market competition fairly.
Article 3 All levels of People's Government shall adopt measures to prevent unfair competition and create good environment and conditions for fair competition. The State Council establishes an anti-unfair competition work coordination mechanism, study and decide on major anti-unfair competition policies, coordinate and handle major issues for protecting market competition order.	Article 4 All levels of People's Government shall adopt measures to prevent and stop unfair competition and create good environment and conditions for fair competition. The State Council establishes and improves anti-unfair competition work coordination mechanism, coordinate and handle major issues for protecting market competition order.
Article 4 The administration for industry and commerce of People's Governments of county level and above shall investigate and deal with unfair competition; where the laws and administrative regulations stipulate that other authorities shall investigate and handle, such provisions shall prevail.	Article 5 The administration for market supervision of county level and above shall supervise and inspect unfair competition; where the laws and administrative regulations stipulate that other authorities shall supervise and inspect, such provisions shall prevail.
Article 5 The State encourages, supports and protects organizations and individuals carrying out public supervision for unfair competition. State agencies and their staff shall not support or cover up unfair competition. Industry organizations shall strengthen industry self-governance, guide and standardize lawful competition among their members, and maintain market competition order.	Article 6 The State encourages, supports and protects organizations and individuals carrying out public supervision for unfair competition. State agencies and their staff shall not support or cover up unfair competition. Industry organizations shall strengthen industry self-governance, guide and regulate business operators in the industry to compete in accordance with the law, and maintain market competition order.
Chapter 2 Unfair Competition	Chapter 2 Unfair Competition
Article 6 Business operators shall not commit the following acts to mislead others to misidentify their goods as others' goods or to associate their goods with others: (1) unauthorised use of labels which are identical or similar to the description, packaging, decoration etc. of other's goods that are influential; (2) unauthorised use of other's influential enterprise name (including abbreviation, brand name etc.), social organization name (including abbreviation etc.) and name (including pen name, stage name, translated name etc.); (3) unauthorised use of main part of other's domain name, website name, web page etc. that are influential; or (4) any other acts which can mislead others to misidentify their goods as others' goods or to associate their goods with others.	Article 7 Business operators shall not commit the following acts to mislead others to misidentify their goods as others' goods or to associate their goods with others: (1) unauthorised use of labels which are identical or similar to the description, packaging, decoration etc. of other's goods that are influential; (2) unauthorised use of other's influential names (including abbreviation, brand name etc.), social organization name (including abbreviation etc.) and name (including pen name, stage name, online name, translated name etc.); (3) unauthorised use of main part of other's domain name, website name, web page, new media account name, names or icons of APPs, etc. that are influential; or (4) any other acts which can mislead others to misidentify their goods as others' goods or to associate their goods with others. Using another person's registered trademark or unregistered well-known trademark as the trade name of an enterprise without authorization, or setting another person's product name, enterprise name (including abbreviations, trade names, etc.), registered trademark, unregistered well-known trademark, etc. as search keywords, thereby misleading people into believing that they are another person's products or have a specific connection with others, shall be regarded as the confusion act as prescribed in the preceding paragraph. Business operators shall not assist others in committing confusing acts.
Article 7 Business operators shall not use monies and assets or other means to bribe the following organizations or individuals so as to seek transaction opportunities or competitive advantage: (1) staff of a transaction counterparty; (2) organizations or individuals entrusted by a transaction counterparty to handle the relevant matters; or (3) organizations or individuals who make use of their official powers or influence to affect a transaction. Business operators may, in their transaction activities, explicitly give discount to a transaction counterparty, or pay commission to a middleman. When giving discount to a transaction counterparty or paying commission to a middleman, the business operator shall record the discount or commission in its accounts truthfully. Business operators who receive discount or commission shall also record the discount or commission in their accounts truthfully. Bribery committed by a staff member of a business operator shall be deemed as bribery committed by the business operator, except where the business operator has evidence to prove that the conduct of the said staff member has nothing to do with seeking transaction opportunities or competitive advantage for business operator.	Article 8 Business operators shall not give monies and assets or use other means to bribe the following organizations or individuals so as to seek transaction opportunities or competitive advantage: (1) staff of a transaction counterparty; (2) organizations or individuals entrusted by a transaction counterparty to handle the relevant matters; or (3) organizations or individuals who make use of their official powers or influence to affect a transaction. The units and individuals as prescribed in the provisions of the preceding paragraph shall not accept bribes. Business operators may, in their transaction activities, explicitly give discount to a transaction counterparty, or pay commission to a middleman. When giving discount to a transaction counterparty or paying commission to a middleman, the business operator shall record the discount or commission in its accounts truthfully. Business operators who receive discount or commission shall also record the discount or commission in their accounts truthfully. Bribery committed by a staff member of a business operator shall be deemed as bribery committed by the business operator, except where the business operator has evidence to prove that the conduct of the said staff member has nothing to do with seeking transaction opportunities or competitive advantage for business operator.
Article 8 Business operators shall not make false or misleading commercial promotion for the performance, functions, quality, sales, user evaluation, accolades etc. so as to defraud or mislead consumers. Business operators shall not organise false transactions etc. to help other business operators to carry out false or misleading commercial promotion.	Article 9 Business operators shall not make false or misleading commercial promotion for the performance, functions, quality, sales, user evaluation, accolades etc. so as to defraud or mislead consumers and other business operators. Business operators shall not organise false transactions, fake reviews etc. to help other business operators to carry out false or misleading commercial promotion.
Article 9 Business operators shall not commit the following infringement of commercial secrets: (1) obtain the commercial secrets of a rights holder through theft, bribery, fraud, coercion, hacking or other improper means; (2) disclose, use or allow others to use the commercial secrets of a rights holder obtained through the aforesaid means; (3) violate confidentiality obligation or violate a rights holder's requirements on keeping confidentiality of commercial secrets, and disclose, use or allow others to use such commercial secrets they obtained; and (4) instigate, induce or assist others to violate confidentiality obligation or to violate a rights holder's requirements on keeping confidentiality of commercial secrets, so as to disclose, use or allow others to use the commercial secrets of the rights holder. Natural persons, legal persons and non-legal persons other than business operators committing any of the illegal acts stipulated in the preceding paragraph shall be deemed to have infringed upon commercial secrets. Where a third party is knowingly aware or should be aware that an employee, ex-employee of a rights holder of commercial secrets, or any other organization or individual, has committed any of the illegal acts stipulated in the first paragraph of this Article but still obtains, discloses, uses or allows others to use such commercial secrets, this shall be deemed to have infringed upon commercial secrets. Commercial secrets referred to in this Law shall mean commercial information such as technical information and business information, which is not known to the public and has commercial value and for which the rights holder has adopted the corresponding confidentiality measures.	Article 10 Business operators shall not commit the following infringement of commercial secrets: (1) obtain the commercial secrets of a rights holder through theft, bribery, fraud, coercion, hacking or other improper means; (2) disclose, use or allow others to use the commercial secrets of a rights holder obtained through the aforesaid means; (3) violate confidentiality obligation or violate a rights holder's requirements on keeping confidentiality of commercial secrets, and disclose, use or allow others to use such commercial secrets they obtained; and (4) instigate, induce or assist others to violate confidentiality obligation or to violate a rights holder's requirements on keeping confidentiality of commercial secrets, so as to disclose, use or allow others to use the commercial secrets of the rights holder. Natural persons, legal persons and non-legal persons other than business operators committing any of the illegal acts stipulated in the preceding paragraph shall be deemed to have infringed upon commercial secrets. Where a third party is knowingly aware or should be aware that an employee, ex-employee of a rights holder of commercial secrets, or any other organization or individual, has committed any of the illegal acts stipulated in the first paragraph of this Article but still obtains, discloses, uses or allows others to use such commercial secrets, this shall be deemed to have infringed upon commercial secrets. Commercial secrets referred to in this Law shall mean commercial information such as technical information and business information, which is not known to the public and has commercial value and for which the rights holder has adopted the corresponding confidentiality measures.
Article 10 Business operators conducting prize-giving sales shall not have the following circumstances: (1) the information on types of prizes, redemption criteria, prize amount or prize items etc. are unclear, thus affecting prize redemption; (2) conducting prize-giving sales in a fraudulent way that falsely claims to have prizes or deliberately gives prizes to designated persons; (3) the highest prize of a lucky draw in prize-giving sales exceeds RMB 50,000.	Article 11 Business operators conducting prize-giving sales shall not have the following circumstances: (1) the information on types of prizes, redemption criteria, prize amount or prize items etc. are unclear, thus affecting prize redemption; (2) After the start of the prize sales activity, without justifiable reasons, the types of prizes set, the conditions for redemption, the amount of the prize money or the prizes and other prize sales information are changed; (3) conducting prize-giving sales in a fraudulent way etc. that falsely claims to have prizes or deliberately gives prizes to designated persons; (4) the highest prize of a lucky draw in prize-giving sales exceeds RMB 50,000.
Article 11 Business operators shall not fabricate or disseminate false information or misleading information to harm the business goodwill, product reputation of their competitors.	Article 12 Business operators shall not fabricate, disseminate or instruct others to fabricate or disseminate false information or misleading information to harm the business goodwill, product reputation of other business operators.
Article 12 Business operators making use of cyber network for their production and business activities shall comply with the provisions of this Law. A business operator shall not make use of technical means to commit the following acts, through influencing users' choice or any other method, to hinder and disrupt normal operation of the cyber products or services provided legitimately by other business operators: (1) without the consent of other business operators, insert hyperlink or force redirects in the cyber products or services provided legitimately by them; (2) mislead, defraud or force users to amend, close or uninstall cyber products or services provided legitimately by other business operators; (3) maliciously implement incompatibility with cyber products or services provided legitimately by other business operators; or (4) commit any other acts which hinder or disrupt cyber products or services provided legitimately by other business operators.	Article 13 Business operators making use of cyber network for their production and business activities shall comply with the provisions of this Law. A business operator shall not make use of statistics and algorithm, technical means, platform rules etc. to commit the following acts, through influencing users' choice or any other method, to hinder and disrupt normal operation of the cyber products or services provided legitimately by other business operators: (1) without the consent of other business operators, insert hyperlink or force redirects in the cyber products or services provided legitimately by them; (2) mislead, defraud or force users to amend, close or uninstall cyber products or services provided legitimately by other business operators; (3) maliciously implement incompatibility with cyber products or services provided legitimately by other business operators; or (4) commit any other acts which hinder or disrupt cyber products or services provided legitimately by other business operators. Business operators shall not obtain or use data lawfully held by other business operators through improper means such as fraud, coercion, evasion or disruption of technical management measures, thereby infringing upon the legitimate rights and interests of other business operators and disrupting the order of market competition. Business operators shall not abuse the platform rules to directly or instruct others to carry out false transactions, false evaluations or malicious returns against other business operators, thereby infringing upon the legitimate rights and interests of other business operators and disrupting the market competition order.
	Article 14 Platform operators shall not force or covertly force operators within the platform to sell goods at prices lower than cost in accordance with their pricing rules, thereby disrupting the order of market competition.
	Article 15 Large enterprises and other business operators must not abuse their advantageous positions in terms of capital, technology, transaction channels, industry influence, etc., to require small and medium-sized enterprises to accept obviously unreasonable transaction terms such as payment terms, methods, conditions and liability for breach of contract, and to delay the payment of goods, projects, services, etc. to small and medium-sized enterprises.
Chapter 3 Investigation into Alleged Unfair Competition	Chapter 3 Investigation into Alleged Unfair Competition
Article 13 The regulatory authorities may adopt the following measures to investigate into alleged unfair competition: (1) enter into the business premises where the alleged unfair competition is carried out, to conduct inspection; (2) question the business operator under investigation, the stakeholders and other relevant organizations, individuals, and request them to provide the relevant explanation or provide other materials related to the activities under investigation; (3) inspect or make copies of agreements, accounts books, invoices and receipts, documents, records, business correspondence and other materials related to the alleged unfair competition; (4) seize or confiscate monies and assets related to the alleged unfair competition; and (5) enquire into the bank account(s) of the business operator allegedly engaging in unfair competition. For adoption of the measures stipulated in the preceding paragraph, a written report shall be submitted to the key person-in-charge of the regulatory authorities and obtain approval. For adoption of measures stipulated in item (4) and item (5) of the preceding paragraph, a written report shall be submitted to the key person-in-charge of the regulatory authorities of the People's Government of a municipality divided into districts and obtain approval. In the investigation of alleged unfair competition, the regulatory authorities shall comply with the provisions of the Administrative Enforcement Law of the People's Republic of China and other related laws and administrative regulations, and promptly announce the investigation findings to the public.	Article 16 The regulatory authorities may adopt the following measures to investigate into alleged unfair competition: (1) enter into the business premises where the alleged unfair competition is carried out, to conduct inspection; (2) question the business operator under investigation, the stakeholders and other relevant organizations, individuals, and request them to provide the relevant explanation or provide other materials related to the activities under investigation; (3) inspect or make copies of agreements, accounts books, invoices and receipts, documents, records, business correspondence and other materials related to the alleged unfair competition; (4) seize or confiscate monies and assets related to the alleged unfair competition; and (5) enquire into the bank account(s) of the business operator allegedly engaging in unfair competition. For adoption of the measures stipulated in the preceding paragraph, a written report shall be submitted to the key person-in-charge of the regulatory authorities and obtain approval. For adoption of measures stipulated in item (4) and item (5) of the preceding paragraph, a written report shall be submitted to the key person-in-charge of the regulatory authorities of the People's Government of a municipality divided into districts and obtain approval. In the investigation of alleged unfair competition, the regulatory authorities shall comply with the provisions of the Administrative Enforcement Law of the People's Republic of China and other related laws and administrative regulations, and promptly announce the investigation findings to the public in accordance with the law.
Article 14 When the regulatory authorities investigate into an alleged unfair competition, the business operator under investigation and the stakeholders, as well as other relevant organizations and individuals, shall provide the relevant materials or information truthfully.	Article 17 When the regulatory authorities investigate into an alleged unfair competition, the business operator under investigation and the stakeholders, as well as other relevant organizations and individuals, shall provide the relevant materials or information truthfully.
Article 23 Where a business operator violates the provisions of Article 11 of this Law in harming the business goodwill or product reputation of its competitors, the regulatory authorities shall order the business operator to stop the illegal act, eliminate the impact, and pay a fine ranging from RMB 100,000 to RMB 500,000; in serious cases, a fine ranging from RMB 500,000 to RMB 3 million shall be imposed.	Article 18 Where a business operator is suspected of violating the provisions of this law, the regulatory authorities may have a talk with the relevant person in charge of the operator, requiring them to explain the situation and propose improvement measures.
Article 15 The regulatory authorities and their staff shall keep confidentiality of commercial secrets which have come into their knowledge during the investigation.	Article 19 The regulatory authorities and their staff shall keep confidentiality of commercial secrets, personal privacy and personal information which have come into their knowledge during the investigation.
Article 16 Any organization or individual shall have the right to report an alleged unfair competition to the regulatory authorities; the regulatory authorities shall, upon receipt of a report, promptly handle pursuant to the law. The regulatory authorities shall announce the hotline, mail address or email address for acceptance of reports from the public and keep confidentiality for whistleblowers. Where a whistleblower makes a report in real name and provides the relevant facts and evidence, the regulatory authorities shall notify the whistleblower of the action taken.	Article 20 Any organization or individual shall have the right to report an alleged unfair competition to the regulatory authorities; the regulatory authorities shall, upon receipt of a report, promptly handle pursuant to the law. The regulatory authorities shall announce the hotline, mail address or email address for acceptance of reports from the public and keep confidentiality for whistleblowers. Where a whistleblower makes a report in real name and provides the relevant facts and evidence, the regulatory authorities shall notify the whistleblower of the action taken in time.
	Article 21 Platform operators shall clearly stipulate the rules for fair competition within the platform in the platform service agreement and trading rules, establish a mechanism for reporting, complaining about unfair competition and handling disputes, and guide and regulate the operators within the platform to compete fairly in accordance with the law. If it is found that an operator within the platform has engaged in unfair competition, necessary measures shall be taken in accordance with the law in a timely manner, relevant records shall be kept, and a report shall be made to the supervision and inspection department of the county-level or higher people's government where the platform operator is domicile as required.
Chapter 4 Legal Liability	Chapter 4 Legal Liability
Article 17 Business operators who violate the provisions of this Law and cause others to suffer damages shall bear civil liability pursuant to the law. Where the legitimate rights and interests of a business operator are harmed by unfair competition, the business operator may file a lawsuit with a People's Court. The compensation for a business operator who suffer damages due to unfair competition shall be determined in accordance with the actual losses suffered as a result of the infringement; where it is hard to ascertain the actual losses, the compensation shall be determined in accordance with the gains made by the infringer from the infringement. For business operators who infringe upon commercial secrets maliciously and if the case is serious, the compensation amount may be determined in accordance with one to five times the amount determined using the aforesaid method. The compensation amount shall also include reasonable expenses paid by the business operator to stop the infringement. Where a business operator violates the provisions of Article 6 and Article 9 of this Law, and it is hard to ascertain the actual losses suffered by the rights holder due to the infringement or to ascertain the gains made by the infringer from the infringement, the People's Court shall, in accordance with the extent of the infringement, award compensation of less than RMB 5 million to the rights holder.	Article 22 Business operators who violate the provisions of this Law and cause others to suffer damages shall bear civil liability pursuant to the law. Where the legitimate rights and interests of a business operator are harmed by unfair competition, the business operator may file a lawsuit with a People's Court. The compensation for a business operator who suffer damages due to unfair competition shall be determined in accordance with the actual losses suffered as a result of the infringement or the gains made by the infringer from the infringement. For business operators who infringe upon commercial secrets intentionally and if the case is serious, the compensation amount may be determined in accordance with one to five times the amount determined using the aforesaid method. The compensation amount shall also include reasonable expenses paid by the business operator to stop the infringement. Where a business operator violates the provisions of Article 7 and Article 10 of this Law, and it is hard to ascertain the actual losses suffered by the rights holder due to the infringement or to ascertain the gains made by the infringer from the infringement, the People's Court shall, in accordance with the extent of the infringement, award compensation of less than RMB 5 million to the rights holder.
Article 18 Where a business operator violates the provisions of Article 6 of this Law in carrying out misleading activities, the regulatory authorities shall order the business operator to stop the illegal activities and confiscate the illegal goods. Where the illegal business revenue is RMB 50,000 or more, a fine of not more than five times the amount of illegal business revenue may also be imposed; where there is no illegal business revenue or the illegal business revenue is less than RMB 50,000, a fine of not more than RMB 250,000 may also be imposed. In serious cases, the business license of the business operator shall be revoked. Where the enterprise name registered by a business operator violates the provisions of Article 6 of this Law, the business operator shall promptly complete name change registration formalities; prior to the name change, the original enterprise registration authorities shall use the business operator's unified social code to replace its name.	Article 23 Where a business operator violates the provisions of Article 7 of this Law in carrying out misleading activities or aiding others in committing acts of confusion, the regulatory authorities shall order the business operator to stop the illegal activities and confiscate the illegal goods. Where the illegal business revenue is RMB 50,000 or more, a fine of not more than five times the amount of illegal business revenue may also be imposed; where there is no illegal business revenue or the illegal business revenue is less than RMB 50,000, a fine of not more than RMB 250,000 may also be imposed. In serious cases, the business license of the business operator shall be revoked concurrently. Those who sell the illegal goods as prescribed in Article 7 of this Law shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph. Where a seller is unaware that the goods it is selling are illegal, but can prove that the goods were lawfully obtained by it and identify the provider, the supervisory and inspection department shall order it to stop selling without imposing administrative penalties. Where the enterprise name registered by a business operator violates the provisions of Article 7 of this Law, the business operator shall promptly complete name change registration formalities; prior to the name change, the original enterprise registration authorities shall use the business operator's unified social code to replace its name.
Article 19 Where a business operator violates the provisions of Article 7 of this Law in committing bribery, the regulatory authorities shall confiscate the illegal income and impose a fine ranging from RMB 100,000 to RMB 3 million. In serious cases, the business license of the business operator shall be revoked.	Article 24 Where relevant organizations violate the provisions of Article 8 of this Law in committing bribery, the regulatory authorities shall confiscate the illegal income and impose a fine ranging from RMB 100,000 to RMB 1 million. In serious cases, the business license of the business operator shall be revoked. If the legal representative, principal person-in-charge, or directly liable person of an operator bears personal liability for committing bribery, or if a relevant individual accepts bribes, the supervision and inspection department shall confiscate the illegal gains and impose a fine of no more than RMB 1 million.
Article 20 Where a business operator violates the provisions of Article 8 of this Law in making false or misleading commercial promotion or organising false transactions etc. to help another business operator to carry out false or misleading commercial promotion, the regulatory authorities shall order the business operator to stop the illegal act, and impose a fine ranging from RMB 200,000 to RMB 1 million; in serious cases, a fine ranging from RMB 1 million to RMB 2 million shall be imposed, and the business license of the business operator may be revoked. A business operator who violates the provisions of Article 8 of this Law in distributing false advertisements shall be punished pursuant to the Advertising Law of the People's Republic of China.	Article 25 Where a business operator violates the provisions of Article 9 of this Law in making false or misleading commercial promotion or organizing false transactions or making fake reviews etc. to help another business operator to carry out false or misleading commercial promotion, the regulatory authorities shall order the business operator to stop the illegal act, and impose a fine ranging from RMB 200,000 to RMB 1 million; in serious cases, a fine ranging from RMB 1 million to RMB 2 million shall be imposed, and the business license of the business operator may be revoked concurrently. A business operator who violates the provisions of Article 9 of this Law in distributing false advertisements shall be punished pursuant to the Advertising Law of the People's Republic of China.
Article 21 Natural persons, legal persons and non-legal persons other than business operators who violate the provisions of Article 9 of this Law in infringing upon commercial secrets shall be ordered by the supervision and inspection department to stop the illegal act, illegal income shall be confiscated and a fine ranging from RMB 100,000 to RMB 1 million shall be imposed; in serious cases, a fine ranging from RMB 500,000 to RMB 5 million shall be imposed.	Article 26 Natural persons, legal persons and non-legal persons other than business operators who violate the provisions of Article 10 of this Law in infringing upon commercial secrets shall be ordered by the supervision and inspection department to stop the illegal act, illegal income shall be confiscated and a fine ranging from RMB 100,000 to RMB 1 million shall be imposed; in serious cases, a fine ranging from RMB 1 million to RMB 5 million shall be imposed.
Article 22 Where a business operator conducting prize-giving sales violates the provisions of Article 10 of this Law, the regulatory authorities shall order the business operator to stop the illegal act, and impose a fine ranging from RMB 50,000 to RMB 500,000.	Article 27 Where a business operator conducting prize-giving sales violates the provisions of Article 10 of this Law, the regulatory authorities shall order the business operator to stop the illegal act, and impose a fine ranging from RMB 50,000 to RMB 500,000.
Article 23 Where a business operator violates the provisions of Article 11 of this Law in harming the business goodwill or product reputation of its competitors, the regulatory authorities shall order the business operator to stop the illegal act, eliminate the impact, and pay a fine ranging from RMB 100,000 to RMB 500,000; in serious cases, a fine ranging from RMB 500,000 to RMB 3 million shall be imposed.	Article 28 Where a business operator violates the provisions of Article 11 of this Law in harming the business goodwill or product reputation of other business operators, the regulatory authorities shall order the business operator to stop the illegal act, eliminate the impact, and pay a fine ranging from RMB 100,000 to RMB 1 million; in serious cases, a fine ranging from RMB 1 million to RMB 5 million shall be imposed.
Article 23 Where a business operator violates the provisions of Article 11 of this Law in harming the business goodwill or product reputation of its competitors, the regulatory authorities shall order the business operator to stop the illegal act, eliminate the impact, and pay a fine ranging from RMB 100,000 to RMB 500,000; in serious cases, a fine ranging from RMB 500,000 to RMB 3 million shall be imposed.	Article 29 Where a business operator violates the provisions of Paragraph 2, Paragraph 3 and Paragraph 4 of Article 13 of this Law in making use of Internet to engage in unfair competition, the regulatory authorities shall order the business operator to stop the illegal act, and impose a fine ranging from RMB 100,000 to RMB 1 million; in serious cases, a fine ranging from RMB 1 million to RMB 5 million shall be imposed.
Article 24 Where a business operator violates the provisions of Article 12 of this Law in making use of technical means to commit the following acts through influencing user choice or any other method to hinder or disrupt normal operation of the cyber products or services provided legitimately by other business operators, the regulatory authorities shall order the business operator to stop the illegal act, and impose a fine ranging from RMB 100,000 to RMB 500,000; in serious cases, a fine ranging from RMB 500,000 to RMB 3 million shall be imposed.	Article 30 Where a platform operator violates the provisions of Article 14 of this Law in by forcing or covertly forcing the operators within the platform to sell goods at prices lower than the cost, the regulatory authorities shall order the business operator to stop the illegal act, and impose a fine ranging from RMB 50,000 to RMB 500,000; in serious cases, a fine ranging from RMB 500,000 to RMB 2 million shall be imposed.
Article 23 Where a business operator violates the provisions of Article 11 of this Law in harming the business goodwill or product reputation of its competitors, the regulatory authorities shall order the business operator to stop the illegal act, eliminate the impact, and pay a fine ranging from RMB 100,000 to RMB 500,000; in serious cases, a fine ranging from RMB 500,000 to RMB 3 million shall be imposed.	Article 31 Where a business operator violates the provisions of Article 15 of this Law in abusing one’s dominant position, the regulatory authorities at or above the provincial level shall order the business operator to make corrections within a prescribed time limit. If it fails to make corrections within the time limit, it shall impose a fine not more than RMB 1 million; in serious cases, a fine ranging from RMB 1 million to RMB 5 million shall be imposed.
Article 25 Where a business operator who engages in unfair competition and violates the provisions of this Law takes the initiative to eliminate or mitigate the harmful consequences of the illegal act, the administrative punishment shall be reduced or mitigated pursuant to the law; where the illegal act is trivial and promptly corrected and does not cause harmful consequences, no administrative punishment shall be imposed.	Article 32 Where a business operator who engages in unfair competition and violates the provisions of this Law takes the initiative to eliminate or mitigate the harmful consequences of the illegal act, the administrative punishment shall be reduced or mitigated pursuant to the law; where the illegal act is trivial and promptly corrected and does not cause harmful consequences, no administrative punishment shall be imposed.
Article 26 Where a business operator who engages in unfair competition and violates the provisions of this Law is subject to administrative punishment, the regulatory authorities shall make a record in the creditworthiness records of the business operator and make an announcement pursuant to the provisions of the relevant laws and administrative regulations.	Article 33 Where a business operator who engages in unfair competition and violates the provisions of this Law is subject to administrative punishment, the regulatory authorities shall make a record in the creditworthiness records of the business operator and make an announcement pursuant to the provisions of the relevant laws and administrative regulations.
Article 27 A business operator who violates the provisions of this Law shall bear civil liability, administrative liability and criminal liability; where its assets are insufficient to pay, it shall first bear the civil liability.	Article 34 A business operator who violates the provisions of this Law shall bear civil liability, administrative liability and criminal liability; where its assets are insufficient to pay, it shall first bear the civil liability.
Article 28 Persons who obstruct performance of duties pursuant to this Law by the regulatory authorities and refuse or hinder investigation shall be ordered by the regulatory authorities to make correction, a fine of not more than RMB 5,000 may be imposed on such an individual, a fine of not more than RMB 50,000 may be imposed on such an organization, and the public security bureau may impose security administration punishment pursuant to the law.	Article 35 Persons who obstruct performance of duties pursuant to this Law by the regulatory authorities and refuse or hinder investigation shall be ordered by the regulatory authorities to make correction, a fine of not more than RMB 10,000 may be imposed on such an individual, a fine of not more than RMB 100,000 may be imposed on such an organization, and the public security bureau may impose security administration punishment pursuant to the law.