Antitrust Laws Implementing The Relevant Product Market Defined

Relevant market definition is one of the most important links and in basic position of both theoretical research and practical operation of antitrust law. The core of relevant market definition is the relevant product market definition. Currently, relevant product market definition in some European countries and the United States, in which the antitrust law developed into a relatively experienced situation, is mainly on the basis of the demand-side substitutability theory which to decide the scope of the products in closely substitutable relationship from the view of consumers. However, such market definition pattern as principal reliance on the demand-side substitutability theory has in many times been proved that there are mistakes in practice. Being on the basis of systematic analyzing the defects of the demand-side substitutability theory, the standpoint that the supply-side substitutability theory should be the decisive standard in defining relevant market is lodged in this paper. Moreover, in consideration of the situation that the relevant product market cannot be defined accurately by using any outside economic analyzing methods, therefore, this article also explicitly presents a relevant-market-defining method of using the business plan, through which the demand-side and supply-side substitutable situation in the market can be truly reflected and the relevant product market can be defined much more accurately than before.Except the introduction and concluding remark, this article can be divided into four chapters. In Chapter 1 (general introduction of relevant market), it made a horizontal comparison of the different definition of relevant market in antitrust legislations between in the West and in China, then the basic principles that relevant market definition should comply with was showed in this part. In Chapter 2 (the theories and methods of relevant market definition on the basis of the demand-side substitutability), the relevant market definition theories and methods now in antitrust legislations of the West were introduced and analyzed systematically and in detail. In Chapter 3 (the defects of the demand-side substitutability theory and the utilization of the business plan analysis method), this article had an in-depth research concerning the defects of the demand-side substitutability theory and the crucial role of the supply-side substitutability theory in defining the relevant product market, then based on such research, the business plan analysis method for relevant market definition was introduced. In Chapter 4 (the suggestions for relevant product market definition in enforcing Chinese Antitrust Law), based on the recognition of the current situation of antitrust law legislation in China, this article discovered some questions regarding the relevant market definition in enforcing the Antitrust Law and provided some corresponding suggestions.