A total of 12 Japanese auto parts and bearing makers have been fined 1.24 billion yuan ($201 million) owing to their collusion in creating a price monopoly, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) confirmed on August 20.
The Japanese auto parts suppliers punished include Hitachi, Denso, Aisan, Mitsubishi Electric, Mitsuba, Yazaki, Furukawa, Sumitomo and bearing makers are Nachi, NSK, JTEKT and NTN.
Hitachi and Nachi were exempted from the punishment as they were the first Japanese companies to report their monopoly agreements and offer important evidence in this regard, the NDRC said.
The fines to 10 other companies varied from 290 million yuan ($47.14 million) to 29.76 million yuan ($4.84 million), according to the NDRC.
The eight Japanese auto parts suppliers were found to have frequently met bilaterally or multilaterally in Japan from January 2000 to February 2010, negotiating over prices and implementing agreements over quoted prices concerning orders from the Chinese market.
The four bearing makers were also found to have jointly convened meetings in Japan and Shanghai from 2000 to June 2011 to discuss the timing and scope of price hikes for bearing products in the Chinese market and later raised their price according to these negotiations, the NDRC said.
Such moves by the 12 Japanese auto parts and bearing suppliers were in violation of the Chinese Anti-Monopoly Law, which prohibits behavior excluding or restraining market competition and thus damaging the rights and interests of downstream manufacturers and consumers, the NDRC said. |