China issues compliance guide on auto pricing conduct--China

BEIJING, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- China's State Administration for Market Regulation on Thursday released a compliance guide on price-related conduct in the automobile sector, aiming to regulate pricing practices and promote sound development of the auto market.

The guide comes as the sector, a key pillar of the national economy with a long industrial chain, has seen some irregularities in recent years, the regulator said.

Grounded in the auto industry's current development, the guide further clarifies the boundaries of permissible conduct, unifies regulatory rules, and guides automakers and dealers to operate in compliance with the law, so as to help foster a market featuring quality products with fair prices and healthy competition.

The document, which contains five chapters and 28 articles, sets out overall principles and requirements, including the goal, basis and scope of application, as well as basic principles that pricing conduct should follow. It also encourages industry associations to strengthen self-discipline and promote price compliance building across the sector.

For auto manufacturers, the guide refines compliance requirements across the industrial chain from whole vehicles to production of parts, and from pricing strategies to sales practices.

For auto sellers, the guide focuses on new vehicle sales and targets prominent issues such as failure to clearly mark prices and false promotions.

The guide also urges enterprises to strengthen internal compliance, encouraging automakers and distributors to set up mechanisms covering price decision-making, sales contract management, internal oversight, emergency price responses, risk prevention and price compliance training, in a bid to achieve full-process control over pricing conduct.

It also calls for giving full play to the role of industry associations and guiding them to formulate detailed implementation measures with reference to the compliance guide.