context: The PRC’s regulatory stance on the platform economy has evolved from the 'regulatory storm' of 2020–21 to a more nuanced focus on sustaining a healthy ecosystem. Following the transition to 'normalised supervision' in 2022, the policy narrative broadened significantly in July 2024 when the Politburo explicitly targeted 'involution'—destructive, zero-sum price wars that erode value across the supply chain. This trajectory was cemented by the 2025 Central Economic Work Conference, which pivoted toward a 'win-win' paradigm, emphasising that platform growth must not come at the expense of merchant and laborer viability. Crucially, the State Administration for Market Regulation’s latest warning that mandating 'lowest price across the web' may constitute an abuse of dominance serves as a direct enforcement response to this anti-involution directive, signaling that aggressive pricing strategies which force merchants into a 'race to the bottom' are now a primary regulatory target.
The State Administration for Market Regulation held a press conference on 17 December 2025 to present the results of anti-monopoly enforcement in the public livelihood sector and updated the information on drafting anti-monopoly compliance guidelines for internet platforms, clarifying specific compliance requirements for the platform economy
- enforcement focus
- emphasising 'normalised supervision' on platform economy
- focusing on investigating aggressive behaviors like 'pick one of two' and 'lowest price across the web'
- guidelines overview
- identifying eight emerging monopoly risk scenarios such as algorithmic collusion and discriminatory treatment
- aiming to guide platforms in risk identification and compliance management
- key compliance areas
- exclusivity ('pick one of two'): dominant platforms must not use punitive or incentive measures to enforce exclusivity
- price competition: requiring 'lowest price across the web' (prohibiting merchants from selling cheaper elsewhere) may constitute abuse of dominance
- algorithmic regulation: addressing risks like
- 'algorithm black boxes'
- 'algorithmic collusion'
- encouraging platforms to build screening systems to prevent monopolies at the source