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UCL CLES co-organised听a high level by invitation only workshop in collaboration听with Peking University e-Commerce Centre and the Internet Competition Policy 30-member Forum on April 17-18, 2019 in Beijing on the topic of 'Competition, Governance and Regulation of the Internet Economy: the Chinese and Global Perspectives' with the participation of the top scholars in China on competition policy and the digital economy, officials and representatives of the biggest Chinese digital platforms.

The workshop forms part of CLES' ongoing research work on digital capitalism and of a cooperative project between听UCL CLES and Peking University on the governance of digital platforms: comparative insights. This research project听has been generously funded by the UCL Global Public Engagement fund.

The workshop was co-organised by Professor Ioannis Lianos from UCL CLES, Professor Jun Xue from Peking University and Mr.听Bowen Wang, an alumnus of UCL (LL.M. 2017) and a very bright competition lawyer practising in a major law firm in China.

The first roundtable of the conference provided a very insightful introduction to the institutional,听business and economic environment that led to the emergence of digital platforms in China and in particular the Chinese experience听of boosting the听internet economy through different forms of state intervention, as well as its听side effects. In particular, the attendees benefited from听presentations from representatives from the major Chinese digital platforms.听

The second roundtable examined听the various legal听instruments听regulating the internet economy in China, especially in light of the recently promulgated Chinese e-Commerce Law. It explored the role of antitrust in regulating the platform economy and the implications听of the establishment of 'Internet courts' in China, as centralised jurisdictions on internet related cases.听

The third roundtable delved into antitrust issues听by examining听the exploitative conducts adopted by platforms leading to the imminent detriment of consumers, in particular personalized pricing to harvest unfair mark-ups. The roundtable also discussed听the need to regulate听algorithms, as it is key to restore the market competition and to protect consumer welfare.

Continuing the focus on antitrust, the fourth roundtable听focused on听exclusionary conducts adopted by internet companies. A few examples were听discussed, such as Chinese cases where digital companies blocked competitors (not necessarily in the narrow sense), or听forced suppliers to enter into exclusive arrangements. This roundtable also touched upon听the conflict-of-interest issue which is allegedly听commonly seen in many e-platforms, i.e., to leverage the resources, data, knowledge obtained from the platform in order to听benefit the platform鈥檚 own business.

The fifth roundtable moved outside the area of antitrust and听focused on听the basic issues of data protection and merger regulation. It explored听the challenges data mergers set to the jurisdictional criteria for merger control (e.g. should we adopt value of the deal or data thresholds and abandon turnover thresholds?), but also substantive merger听assessment (what type of theories of harm have been used in Chinese merger control? Are innovation effects considered? Are markets local rather than global in view of the Digital Wall? How are efficiencies considered?).

The final roundtable examined听the different contracts or other relations linking digital platforms with the businesses that are active in their ecosystems and the strategies of 'enveloping' they usually employ in order to leverage their power and control their value chain, especially the platform鈥檚 power to make rules and internal policies which have significant impacts on the other stakeholders doing business on or with the platform.听The effect of such 鈥減rivate governance鈥� may be double-edged. On the one hand, consumers and other companies benefit听from the efficiency, quality, convenience and platform听brand image. Some businesses however also feel that the digital platforms are听unfairly capturing most of the surplus value generated by the value chain and they require some form of regulation.听

Although the workshop focused on the situation in China, the EU and US examples also听shed light on the various options offered.听

The discussion will be continued in a second workshop in theseUCL CLES and Peking University听series, which听will be organised in London during 2019-2020.

To find out more, click here听for the event page.