Chapter I General Provisions

Article 1

This Law is enacted for the purposes of promoting the sound development of the socialist market economy, encouraging and protecting fair competition, preventing and prohibiting acts of unfair competition, and safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of business operators and consumers.

Article 2

Business operators shall, in their production and business activities, abide by the principles of voluntariness, equality, fairness and good faith, comply with laws and business ethics, and participate in market competition fairly.

For the purposes of this Law, acts of unfair competition mean acts committed by business operators in production and business activities that violate the provisions of this Law, disrupt the market competition order, and harm the legitimate rights and interests of other business operators or consumers.

For the purposes of this Law, business operators mean natural persons, legal persons and unincorporated organizations engaged in the production or operation of commodities or the provision of services (commodities as mentioned hereinafter include services).

Article 3

The work against unfair competition shall adhere to the leadership of the Communist Party of China.

The state shall improve the rules and systems against unfair competition, strengthen law enforcement and judicial work against unfair competition, safeguard the market competition order, and improve a unified, open, competitive and orderly market system.

The state shall establish and improve a fair competition review system, strengthen fair competition review work in accordance with the law, and ensure that all types of business operators have equal access to production factors and participate in market competition fairly in accordance with the law.

Article 4

People's governments at all levels shall take measures to prevent and prohibit acts of unfair competition, and create a sound environment and conditions for fair competition.

The State Council shall establish and improve a coordination mechanism for work against unfair competition to coordinate and handle major issues in safeguarding the market competition order.

Article 5

Departments of people's governments at or above the county level that perform market supervision and adm

Chapter II Acts of Unfair Competition

Article 7

Business operators shall not engage in the following confusing acts that are likely to mislead others into believing that the goods are those of another person or that there is a specific connection with another person:

(1) Unauthorized use of signs identical with or similar to the names, packages, decorations and other such elements of another person's goods with a certain influence;

(2) Unauthorized use of another person's names (including abbreviations, shop names, etc.) and personal names (including pen names, stage names, online aliases, translations, etc.) with a certain influence;

(3) Unauthorized use of another person's domain name core parts, website names, web pages, new media account names, application names, icons and other such elements with a certain influence;

(4) Other confusing acts sufficient to mislead others into believing that the goods are those of another person or that there is a specific connection with another person.

The unauthorized use of another person's registered trademark or unregistered well-known trademark as the shop name in an enterprise name, or the setting of another person's goods name, enterprise name (including abbreviations, shop names, etc.), registered trademark, unregistered well-known trademark and other such elements as search keywords, which is likely to mislead others into believing that the goods are those of another person or that there is a specific connection with another person, shall be deemed a confusing act as prescribed in the preceding paragraph.

Business operators shall not assist others in committing confusing acts.

Article 8

Business operators shall not bribe the following entities or individuals by providing money or property or other means to seek transaction opportunities or competitive advantages:

(1) Staff members of the transaction counterparty;

(2) Entities or individuals entrusted by the transaction counterparty to handle relevant affairs;

(3) Entities or individuals that influence transactions by virtue of their functions, powers or influence.

The entities and individual

Chapter III Investigation into Suspected Acts of Unfair Competition

Article 16

Supervision and inspection departments may take the following measures when investigating suspected acts of unfair competition:

(1) Enter the business premises where suspected acts of unfair competition are committed to conduct inspections;

(2) Question the investigated business operators, interested parties and other relevant entities and individuals, and require them to explain the relevant circumstances or provide other materials related to the investigated acts;

(3) Inquire about and duplicate agreements, account books, documents, papers, records, business correspondence and other materials related to suspected acts of unfair competition;

(4) Seal up or seize property related to suspected acts of unfair competition;

(5) Inquire about the bank accounts of business operators suspected of committing acts of unfair competition.

Adopting the measures prescribed in the preceding paragraph shall be reported in writing to and approved by the principal person in charge of the supervision and inspection department. Adopting the measures prescribed in Items (4) and (5) of the preceding paragraph shall be reported in writing to and approved by the principal person in charge of the supervision and inspection department of the people's government at or above the prefecture-level city.

When investigating suspected acts of unfair competition, supervision and inspection departments shall comply with the provisions of the Administrative Coercion Law of the People's Republic of China and other relevant laws and administrative regulations, and shall timely disclose the results of investigations and punishments to the public in accordance with the law.

Article 17

When supervision and inspection departments investigate suspected acts of unfair competition, the investigated business operators, interested parties and other relevant entities and individuals shall truthfully provide relevant materials or information.

Article 18

Where a business operator is suspected of violating the provisions of this Law, the supervision and inspection department may interview its relevant responsible persons, requiring them to explain the circumstances and propose improvement measures.

Article 19

Supervision and inspection departments and their staff shall have the obligation to keep confidential the trade secrets, personal privacy and personal information learned in the course of investigations, in accordance with the law.

Article 20

Any entity or individual has the right to report suspected acts of unfair competition to the supervision and inspection department, which shall handle the report in a timely manner in accordance with the law upon receipt.

Supervision and inspection departments shall publicly disclose the telephone numbers, mailboxes or email addresses for accepting reports to the public, and keep the informants confidential. For reports made under real names with relevant facts and evidence provided, the supervision and inspection department shall timely inform the informants of the handling results.

Article 21

Platform operators shall specify the fair competition rules on the platform in their platform service agreements and transaction rules, establish a mechanism for reporting, complaining about and resolving disputes over unfair competition, and guide and regulate business operators on the platform to compete fairly in accordance with the law. Where a platform operator discovers that a business operator on the platform has committed an act of unfair competition, it shall take necessary disposal measures in a timely manner in accordance with the law, keep relevant records, and report to the supervision and inspection department of the people's government at or above the county level where the platform operator is domiciled, in accordance with the provisions.

Chapter IV Legal Liability

Article 22

Where a business operator violates the provisions of this Law and causes harm to others, it shall bear civil liability in accordance with the law.

Where the legitimate rights and interests of a business operator are harmed by an act of unfair competition, the operator may institute legal proceedings in a people's court.

The amount of compensation for a business operator harmed by an act of unfair competition shall be determined based on the actual losses suffered by the operator due to the infringement or the gains obtained by the infringer from the infringement. Where a business operator intentionally commits an act of infringing on trade secrets with serious circumstances, the compensation amount may be determined to be not less than one time and not more than five times the amount calculated in the aforesaid manner. The compensation amount shall also include the reasonable expenses incurred by the business operator to stop the infringement.

Where a business operator violates the provisions of Articles 7 and 10 of this Law, and the actual losses suffered by the right holder due to the infringement or the gains obtained by the infringer from the infringement are difficult to determine, the people's court shall, in light of the circumstances of the infringement, render a judgment ordering compensation of not more than five million yuan to the right holder.

Article 23

Where a business operator commits an act of confusion or assists others in committing such an act in violation of Article 7 of this Law, the supervision and inspection department shall order it to cease the illegal act and confiscate the illegal commodities. Where the illegal business turnover is not less than fifty thousand yuan, a fine of not more than five times the illegal business turnover may be imposed concurrently; where there is no illegal business turnover or the illegal business turnover is less than fifty thousand yuan, a fine of not more than two hundred and fifty thousand yuan may be imposed concurrently; if the circumstances are serious, its business license shall be revoked concurrently.

Anyone who sells illegal commodities as prescribed in Article 7 of this Law shall be penalized in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph. Where a seller is unaware that the commodities it sells are illegal, and can prove that the commodities are lawfully acquired and specify the supplier, the supervision and inspection department shall order it to stop the sale and shall not impose an administrative penalty.

Where the registered name of a business operator violates the provisions of Article 7 of this Law, the operator shall complete the name change registration in a timely manner; prior to the name change, the registration authority shall replace the name with its unified social credit identifier.

Article 24

Where a relevant entity bribes others or accepts bribes in violation of Article 8 of this Law, the supervision and inspection department shall confiscate its illegal gains and impose a fine of not less than one hundred thousand yuan but not more than one million yuan; if the circumstances are serious, a fine of no

Chapter V Supplementary Provisions