Hebei violates antitrust law

Hebei government agencies had violated the antitrust law by reducing the toll fee by half for local vehicles while charging the full fee for the non-local vehicles, one of the country's antitrust regulators for price fixing said on Friday.

The Hebei Provincial Transportation Department, Hebei Provincial Price Bureau and Hebei Provincial Department of Finance abused administrative power and restricted competition by giving preferential treatment to local transportation companies, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said in a statement on Friday.

The NDRC had advised the Hebei government to order the three local government agencies to correct their practices and give equal treatment to both local and non-local transportation companies.

The investigation of the three local government agencies was prompted by a complaint made by the South Korean Embassy in China recently which said Hebei reduced the toll fee by half for local transport firms whereas a Sino-South Korean joint venture in Tianjin could not enjoy the preferential treatment.

The case marks the first antitrust investigation targeting local government agencies which was publicly announced by the NDRC.