Study On Conflicts And Coordination Between Chinese Competition Law And Industry Law

Generally speaking, economic law mainly consists of market regulation law and macro-control law. As the core of the former, competition law secures the order of market competition through defining the rights and obligations of subjects of market and establishing the rule of their market behavior. It follows enforceable legal procedures. While, industry law is an important component of macro-control law and focusing on interests of the whole society and general public, it governs subjects of market and their market behavior in the macro respective. It adopts procedures of adjustment and control in indirect or direct manner. On one hand, state should create and maintain a fair and equitable environment for market competition, and on the other hand utilize effective industry policy to protect the development of domestic economy against intensified international competition. However, in the process of its establishment and implementation, industry law is so preferential to public interests as certainly to deprive of or weaken interest of subjects of market or restrict their behavior, and obviously, this acts against the principles of free, equal and impartial market environment and order that competition law upholds, so, ending up with conflicts is inevitable.Conflicts between competition law and industry law result from the development of productive forces. Competition mechanism is the most active element of market economy. The criteria "fittest survives" only brings on capital accumulation of minority and scale operation which diminishes the number of subjects of market in the same industry. Moreover, the mace of monopoly entices large enterprises to shamelessly pursue the effectiveness of scale and puts aside the issues concerning consumer's benefits, low unemployment, pollutions of environment and etc, all of which are of great importance to the sustainable development of national economy. Against the backdrop of this, it is necessary to set up industry law to direct and regulate market behavior orienting the value of public interests. At the same time, with the development of productive forces, capitalist law ideologists have less vigorously publicized the totally free competition lately than at the time when they fought for disengagement from feudality and pope, while they come to consider the interests of the society as a standard to constitute laws. So, the vision has been prepared for the fusion and coordination between competition law which aims to build a fair and equitable market environment and industry law which intend to confine competition to an appropriate level. In essence, conflicts lie in such adilemma between benefit and fairness that subsequently is unavoidable in the process of economic development.In china, conflicts between industry law and competition law are mainly presented in terms of different emphasis on right protection, framework, policies of fair competition and preferential industries, industry structure and competition as well as applicable procedures. As china is experiencing economical transition, a total different process from capitalist countries, conflicts between industry law and competition law have emerged in its unique fashion. So, owing to the early stage of market economy, unfledged market system, and deficient competitiveness, industry law should be put in higher priority in the view of the standard of interests of whole society and macro-control regulation with competition law as a support. With the deepening reform of market economy, market will eventually play a substantial role to allocate all resources. If it does come, competition law shall be endowed duly with right position and function to safeguard the sound development of market economy. Besides, industry law and competition law should lay particular stress on different industries, that is, in strategic industries industry law should be put in the first place, but as for competition industry, competition law takes over.Specifically, in china coordination between industry law and competition law attaches importance in two aspects. The first is that industry law should add some content of competition law, that is, industry law should specify the scope of strategic industries, unfasten restriction on competition industries, equally treat different subjects of market and intensify industry regulation. Of course, industry law limits competition at all, so, it should conduct within rational and proper boundaries. Otherwise, positive competition will be crippled. Likewise, taking industry law into consideration, competition law should exempt strategic industries and some special departments, relief vertical cartel and only supervise merger with broad influence. Consequently, conflicts between industry law and competition law are reflected in the implementation of these laws.All in all, based on existing situations of china and growing interests of whole society, it is necessary to prioritize industry law. But, only complemented by competition law to ensure and promote competition can industry law safeguard further development of productive forces.