The Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China

(Adopted at the 3rd Session of the Standing Committee of the 8th National People's Congress on September 2, 1993; first revised at the 30th Session of the Standing Committee of the 12th National People's Congress on November 4, 2017; amended according to the Decision on Amending Eight Laws, including the "People's Republic of China Building Law," adopted at the 10th Session of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress on April 23, 2019) Second revised at the 16th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the 14th National People's Congress on June 27, 2025 )

Eye Record

Chapter One Total Then

Chapter Two Unfair Competition Practices

Chapter Three Investigation into Alleged Unfair Competition Practices

Chapter Four Legal Liability

Chapter 5 Attached Then

Chapter One Total Then

Article 1 To promote the healthy development of the socialist market economy, encourage and safeguard fair competition, prevent and curb unfair competitive practices, and protect the legitimate rights and interests of both business operators and consumers, this law is enacted.

Article 2 Operators, in their production and business activities, should adhere to the principles of voluntariness, equality, fairness, and integrity, comply with laws and business ethics, and participate fairly in market competition.

The unfair competition practices referred to in this law are actions taken by business operators during their production and business activities that violate the provisions of this law, disrupt market competition, and harm the legitimate rights and interests of other businesses or consumers.

Under this law, "operator" refers to natural persons, legal entities, and non-legal organizations engaged in the production, operation of goods, or the provision of services (where "goods" here also include services).

Article 3 Anti-unfair competition efforts are carried out under the leadership of the Communist Party of China.

The country is strengthening and improving its anti-unfair competition rules and systems, intensifying enforcement and judicial efforts to combat unfair competition, safeguarding market competition order, and fostering a unified, open, competitive, and well-organized market framework.

The country has established and improved a sound system for fair competition review, strengthening fair competition oversight in accordance with the law, and ensuring that all types of market players can equally access production factors and fairly participate in market competition as mandated by law.

Article 4 People's governments at all levels should take measures to prevent and curb unfair competition practices, creating a favorable environment and conditions for fair competition.

The State Council has established and improved a coordinated mechanism for anti-unfair competition work, effectively addressing major issues related to maintaining fair market competition.

Article 5 Departments of people's governments at or above the county level responsible for market supervision and administration conduct inspections and oversight of unfair competition practices; however, if laws or administrative regulations stipulate that such oversight should be carried out by other departments, those provisions shall prevail.

Article 6 The state encourages, supports, and protects all organizations and individuals in exercising social oversight over unfair competition practices.

State organs and their staff members must not support or cover up unfair competition practices.

Industry organizations should strengthen self-regulation within the sector, guiding and standardizing operators in their industry to compete legally while safeguarding the order of market competition.

Chapter Two Unfair Competition Practices

Article 7 Operators must not engage in the following confusing practices that could mislead others into believing their products are those of another company or that they have a specific connection with another entity.

(1) Unauthorized use of trademarks, packaging, or product designs—whether identical or similar—that are associated with another party's well-known products;

(II) Unauthorized use of another party’s well-known name (including abbreviations, trade names, etc.) or personal name (including pseudonyms, stage names, online handles, transliterated names, etc.);

(III) Unauthorized use of the main part of another party’s influential domain name, website name, web pages, new media account names, application names, or icons, etc.;

(IV) Any other confusing practices that are likely to mislead others into believing the goods belong to someone else or that there is a specific connection with another party.

Using someone else's registered trademark or an unregistered well-known trademark as a business name's identifying element without permission, or setting another party's product name, company name (including abbreviations, trade names, etc.), registered trademark, or unregistered well-known trademark as a search keyword in a way that misleads others into believing it refers to the competitor's products or establishes a specific connection with them—such actions constitute the confusing behavior described in the preceding paragraph.

Operators must not assist others in carrying out confusing practices.

Article 8 Operators must not offer property or other means of bribery to the following entities or individuals in order to gain trading opportunities or competitive advantages:

(1) Staff members of the counterparty to the transaction;

(II) Entities or individuals entrusted by the counterparty to handle relevant matters;

(III) Entities or individuals who leverage their official position or influence to affect transactions.

The entities and individuals specified in the preceding paragraph shall not accept bribes.

In business transactions, operators may explicitly offer discounts to the counterparty or pay commissions to intermediaries. When operators provide discounts to counterparties or commission payments to intermediaries, they must accurately record these transactions in their accounts. Similarly, operators receiving discounts or commissions are also required to maintain accurate accounting records of such transactions.

If an operator's staff engages in bribery, it shall be considered the operator's own action—unless the operator can provide evidence proving that the staff member's conduct was unrelated to securing business opportunities or gaining a competitive advantage for the operator.

Article 9 Operators must not engage in false or misleading commercial advertising regarding their products' performance, features, quality, sales status, user reviews, or any honors they have received, thereby deceiving or misleading consumers and other businesses.

Operators must not assist other operators in conducting false or misleading commercial advertising by engaging in activities such as organizing fake transactions or fabricating reviews.

Article 10 Operators must not engage in the following acts that infringe upon trade secrets:

(1) Obtaining the rights holder’s trade secrets through theft, bribery, fraud, coercion, electronic intrusion, or other improper means;

(II) Disclosing, using, or permitting others to use the trade secrets obtained through the aforementioned methods;

(III) Disclosing, using, or permitting others to use trade secrets in violation of confidentiality obligations or the rights holder’s requirements for safeguarding such information;

(4) Inciting, enticing, or assisting others to violate confidentiality obligations or fail to comply with the rights holder's requirements for safeguarding trade secrets, thereby obtaining, disclosing, using, or allowing others to use the rights holder's trade secrets.

Any natural persons, legal entities, or non-legal organizations other than the business operator who commit the illegal acts listed in the preceding paragraph shall be deemed to have infringed upon trade secrets.

A third party who knowingly or should have known that employees, former employees, or other entities or individuals of the trade secret holder are engaging in the unlawful activities listed in paragraph 1 of this article, yet still obtains, discloses, uses, or allows others to use the trade secret, shall be deemed to have infringed upon the trade secret.

The trade secrets referred to in this law are commercial information—such as technical and business information—that is not known to the public, has commercial value, and for which the rights holder has implemented appropriate confidentiality measures.

Article 11 Operators conducting sales with prizes must not engage in the following situations:

(1) The details of the prizes offered—such as the types of prizes, redemption conditions, prize amounts, or prize items—are unclear, hindering the redemption process.

(II) After the start of a promotional sales event with prizes, unilaterally changing the type of prize, redemption conditions, prize amount, or prize details—without justifiable reason—regarding the promotional sales information;

(III) Conducting prize-based sales through deceptive practices, such as falsely claiming prizes or deliberately ensuring that pre-selected individuals win.

(4) Prize-based sales through a lottery system, where the value of the top prize exceeds 50,000 yuan.

Article 12 Operators must not fabricate, disseminate, or instruct others to fabricate or spread false or misleading information that could damage the business reputation of other operators or the market standing of their products.

Article 13 Operators engaging in production and business activities online must comply with all provisions of this law.

Operators must not use data and algorithms, technology, platform rules, or other means—such as influencing user choices—to engage in activities that obstruct or disrupt the normal operation of online products or services legitimately provided by other operators.

(1) Without the consent of other operators, inserting links or forcibly redirecting users to specific destinations within their legally provided online products or services;

(II) Misleading, deceiving, or coercing users into modifying, disabling, or uninstalling network products or services lawfully provided by other operators;

(III) Maliciously implementing incompatibility with network products or services legitimately provided by other operators;

(IV) Any other actions that obstruct or disrupt the normal operation of online products or services lawfully provided by other operators.

Operators must not obtain or use data legally held by other operators through improper means such as fraud, coercion, circumvention, or bypassing technical protection measures, thereby harming the legitimate rights and interests of those operators and disrupting the fair competition order.

Operators must not abuse platform rules by directly or instructing others to engage in practices such as fake transactions, fabricated reviews, or malicious returns—actions that harm the legitimate rights and interests of other operators and disrupt the fair order of market competition.

Article 14 Platform operators must not compel, or indirectly force, operators on their platform to sell goods at prices below cost in accordance with their pricing rules, thereby disrupting the competitive market order.

Article 15 Business operators of large enterprises must not abuse their advantageous positions—such as access to capital, technology, trading channels, or industry influence—to compel SMEs to accept transaction terms that are clearly unreasonable, including excessively long payment deadlines, impractical payment methods, overly stringent conditions, and disproportionately harsh penalties for breaches. Additionally, they are prohibited from deliberately delaying payments owed to SMEs for goods, projects, or services.

Chapter 3: Investigation into Alleged Unfair Competition Practices

Article 16 The supervision and inspection department, when investigating suspected acts of unfair competition, may take the following measures:

(1) Entering business premises suspected of engaging in unfair competition for inspection;

(II) Inquire with the operators under investigation, stakeholders, and other relevant entities and individuals, requesting them to clarify the situation or provide additional information related to the investigated conduct;

(III) Inquire into, copy, and obtain access to agreements, account books, invoices, documents, records, business correspondence, and other materials related to suspected unfair competition practices;

(IV) Seize and impound property related to suspected unfair competition activities;

(5) Inquire into the bank accounts of operators suspected of engaging in unfair competition practices.

Measures stipulated in the preceding paragraph must be reported in writing to and approved by the head of the supervisory and inspection department. For measures specified in items 4 and 5 of the preceding paragraph, a written report must also be submitted to and approved by the head of the supervisory and inspection department at or above the prefectural-level city government.

The supervision and inspection department, when investigating suspected acts of unfair competition, shall comply with the provisions of the "Administrative Compulsory Law of the People's Republic of China" as well as other relevant laws and administrative regulations, and must promptly disclose the outcomes of its investigations to the public in accordance with the law.

Article 17 The supervision and inspection department, investigating suspected acts of unfair competition, requires the businesses under investigation, stakeholders, and other relevant entities and individuals to truthfully provide the necessary documents or information.

Article 18 If operators are suspected of violating the provisions of this law, the supervisory and inspection authorities may summon their relevant officials for a meeting, requesting them to clarify the situation and propose measures for improvement.

Article 19 The supervision and inspection department and its staff are legally obligated to maintain confidentiality regarding any trade secrets, personal privacy, and personal information they become aware of during the investigation process.

Article 20 Any organization or individual has the right to report suspected unfair competition practices to the supervisory and inspection authorities, which, upon receiving such reports, must promptly address them in accordance with the law.

The supervision and inspection department shall publicly announce the telephone number, mailbox, or email address where complaints can be reported, and ensure confidentiality for whistleblowers. For anonymous reports accompanied by relevant facts and evidence, the department must promptly inform the whistleblower of the outcome.

Article 21 Platform operators shall clearly define fair competition rules within the platform’s service agreement and transaction guidelines, establish mechanisms for reporting, addressing complaints about unfair competition, and resolving disputes, and actively guide and regulate operators on the platform to compete fairly and in compliance with the law. If a platform operator discovers that an operator within the platform is engaging in unfair competitive practices, it must promptly take necessary legal measures, maintain relevant records, and, as required, report the incident to the supervision and inspection department of the people’s government at or above the county level where the platform operator is headquartered.

Chapter Four Legal Liability

Article 22 Operators who violate the provisions of this law and cause harm to others shall bear civil liability in accordance with the law.

If a business operator's legitimate rights and interests are harmed by unfair competition practices, they may file a lawsuit with the People's Court.

The amount of compensation awarded to operators harmed by unfair competition practices shall be determined based on either the actual losses they suffered due to the infringement or the profits gained by the infringer as a result of the infringement. If an operator intentionally commits an act of misappropriating trade secrets under particularly serious circumstances, the compensation may be set at an amount between one and five times the figure calculated using the methods described above. Additionally, the compensation must also cover the operator’s reasonable expenses incurred in taking steps to stop the infringing behavior.

If an operator violates Articles 7 and 10 of this law, and the actual damages suffered by the rights holder due to the infringement, as well as the profits gained by the infringer from the infringement, are difficult to determine, the people's court may, based on the circumstances of the infringement, award the rights holder compensation of up to 5 million yuan.

Article 23 Operators who violate Article 7 of this law by engaging in confusing practices or assisting others in doing so will be ordered by the supervisory and inspection authorities to cease the illegal activities and have the illicit goods confiscated. If the illegal business turnover exceeds 50,000 yuan, a fine of up to five times the turnover may also be imposed. In cases where there is no recorded business turnover, or if the turnover is less than 50,000 yuan, a penalty of up to 250,000 yuan may be levied instead. In severe cases, the operator’s business license may even be revoked.

Those who sell illegal goods as stipulated in Article 7 of this Law shall be penalized according to the provisions of the preceding paragraph. However, if the seller was unaware that the goods being sold were illegal, can prove that the items were legally obtained, and clearly identifies the supplier, the supervisory and inspection authority shall order them to cease sales but will refrain from imposing administrative penalties.

If the registered name of the operator violates the provisions of Article 7 of this Law, the operator must promptly apply for a name change registration. Until the name change is completed, the registration authority will use the unified social credit code in place of the operator's original name.

Article 24 Units that violate Article 8 of this law by bribing others or accepting bribes will have their illegal gains confiscated and be fined between RMB 100,000 and RMB 1 million. In cases of serious offenses, the fines may range from RMB 1 million to RMB 5 million, and the entity could also face suspension or revocation of its business license.

The legal representative, key executives, and individuals directly responsible within the organization bear personal responsibility for engaging in bribery. Additionally, if any individual is found to have accepted bribes, the supervisory and inspection authorities will confiscate their illegal gains and impose a fine of up to 1 million yuan.

Article 25 Operators who violate Article 9 of this law by making false or misleading commercial advertisements about their products, or who assist other operators in engaging in such deceptive practices through methods like organizing fake transactions or fabricated reviews, will be ordered by the supervisory and inspection authorities to cease the illegal activities and face a fine of up to 1 million yuan. In cases deemed particularly serious, the fines may range from 1 million to 2 million yuan, and the operator could even have their business license revoked.

Operators who violate Article 9 of this law by engaging in the publication of false advertisements shall be penalized in accordance with the provisions of the "Advertising Law of the People's Republic of China."

Article 26 Operators, as well as other natural persons, legal entities, and non-legal organizations that violate Article 10 of this law by infringing upon trade secrets, will be ordered by the supervisory and inspection authorities to cease the illegal activities, have their illegal gains confiscated, and face fines ranging from RMB 100,000 to RMB 1 million. In cases deemed particularly serious, the penalties may increase to between RMB 1 million and RMB 5 million.

Article 27 Operators who violate the provisions of Article 11 of this law by conducting sales with prizes will be ordered by the supervisory and inspection authorities to cease the illegal activity and will face a fine ranging from 50,000 yuan to 500,000 yuan.

Article 28 If a business operator violates Article 12 of this law and damages the business reputation or product reputation of other operators, the supervisory and inspection authority shall order them to cease the illegal activity, eliminate the negative impact, and impose a fine ranging from RMB 100,000 to RMB 1 million. In cases with more serious circumstances, the penalty may increase to between RMB 1 million and RMB 5 million.

Article 29 Operators who violate Articles 13, paragraphs 2, 3, and 4 of this law by engaging in unfair competition through online activities will be ordered by the supervisory and inspection authorities to cease the illegal behavior and fined between RMB 100,000 and RMB 1 million. In cases of serious violations, the fines may range from RMB 1 million to RMB 5 million.

Article 30 If a platform operator violates Article 14 of this law by forcing, or indirectly forcing, operators on the platform to sell goods at prices below cost, the supervisory and inspection authority will order them to cease the illegal behavior and impose a fine ranging from 50,000 yuan to 500,000 yuan. In cases with more serious circumstances, the penalty may increase to between 500,000 yuan and 2 million yuan.

Article 31 If a business operator violates Article 15 of this law by abusing its dominant market position, the supervision and inspection department under the provincial-level or higher people's government will order it to make corrections within a specified time limit. If the operator fails to comply by the deadline, it will be subject to a fine of up to RMB 1 million; in cases of serious violations, the penalty may range from RMB 1 million to RMB 5 million.

Article 32 If an operator violates the provisions of this law by engaging in unfair competition, but voluntarily eliminates or mitigates the harmful consequences of the illegal act—among other legally prescribed circumstances—they shall receive a lighter or reduced administrative penalty as stipulated by law. However, if the violation is minor, promptly corrected, and has not resulted in any actual harm, no administrative penalty will be imposed.

Article 33 Operators who engage in unfair competition in violation of this law and are subject to administrative penalties will have their offenses recorded in their credit history by the supervisory and inspection authorities, and such records will be publicly disclosed in accordance with relevant laws and administrative regulations.

Article 34 Operators who violate the provisions of this law shall bear civil, administrative, and criminal liabilities. If their assets are insufficient to cover these obligations, they will first be used to fulfill civil liability.

Article 35 Anyone who obstructs the supervision and inspection authorities from performing their duties under this law, or refuses or hinders investigations, shall be ordered by the authorities to make corrections. Individuals may face fines of up to 10,000 yuan, while organizations may be subject to penalties of up to 100,000 yuan.

Article 36 If the parties concerned disagree with the decision made by the supervision and inspection authority, they may, in accordance with the law, apply for administrative reconsideration or file an administrative lawsuit.

Article 37 Staff members of the supervision and inspection department who abuse their authority, neglect their duties, engage in favoritism or corruption, or disclose trade secrets, personal privacy, or personal information learned during investigations will be disciplined according to law.

Article 38 Any violation of this law that constitutes a breach of public order and security shall be subject to administrative penalties in accordance with the law; if it constitutes a crime, criminal responsibility shall be pursued according to law.

Article 39 In civil proceedings involving the infringement of trade secrets, the owner of the trade secret must first provide preliminary evidence demonstrating that they have implemented confidentiality measures for the claimed trade secret and reasonably indicate that the trade secret has indeed been infringed. The alleged infringer, in turn, is required to prove that the trade secret claimed by the rights holder does not fall under the category of trade secrets as defined by this law.

The owner of the trade secret must provide preliminary evidence reasonably indicating that the trade secret has been infringed, along with one of the following pieces of evidence; in such cases, the alleged infringer shall be required to prove that no infringement of the trade secret occurred.

(1) There is evidence indicating that the alleged infringer had access to, or the opportunity to obtain, the trade secret, and the information they used is substantially identical to the trade secret itself.

(II) There is evidence indicating that the trade secret has already been disclosed or used by the alleged infringer, or there is a risk that it may be disclosed or used;

(III) There is other evidence indicating that the trade secret has been infringed upon by the alleged infringer.

Chapter 5 Supplementary Provisions

Article 40 Competitive practices deemed unfair under this law, when carried out outside the territory of the People's Republic of China, disrupt the domestic market competition order and harm the legitimate rights and interests of domestic operators or consumers—they shall be handled in accordance with this law and relevant legal provisions.

Article 41 This law takes effect from October 15, 2025 Effective immediately.

Layout: Wang Xin

Review: Management Committee