The Chinese MOFCOM issues rules regarding simple transactions to meet merger thresholds

China’s Anti-Monopoly Law (“AML”) has required review and approval of proposed transactions that meet the AML’s filing thresholds by the Ministry of Commerce (“MOFCOM”) since August 2008. MOFCOM has publicly acknowledged that its merger review process under the AML often results in delayed clearances, including for transactions that raise few or no substantive competition concerns. The agency has repeatedly pledged to address this concern, and to that end released the final version of its Interim Regulation on Standards Applicable to Simple Concentrations of Undertakings (“Simple Transaction Regulation”) on February 14, 2014. This much-anticipated regulation, which became effective upon its release, sets forth criteria according to which MOFCOM may classify a transaction as “simple.” Such