Fine for Qualcomm fair for the market

Qualcomm's monopoly activities deserve severe punishment. At a closed-door conference at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers in Beijing on August, 2014, Qualcomm was boycotted by companies such as Intel, Microsoft and Huawei, and the conference ended up with Qualcomm's rights as a patent holder being restricted.

At the enterprise level, the rectification measures that the NDRC has imposed on Qualcomm are more important than the fine for creating fair market competition environment and protecting consumers' interests. It shows the Chinese market will not put up with the monopoly activities of enterprises using their technological advantage to undermine fair competition and consumers' interests. All enterprises have to compete fairly, respect the market laws and ensure that they do not trample on consumers' interests in their quest to make profits, which is the international practice.

The fine imposed on Qualcomm also shows China is resolute in its decision to improve the rule of law in the market, even though the company didn't stop its public relations activities during the entire period of anti-trust investigation. China Business News reports show top Qualcomm leaders visited NDRC seven times for negotiations since October 2014. The anti-trust investigation against Qualcomm has become a major US-China issue. Many senior US officials and organizations, including President Barack Obama and the American Chamber of Commerce in China, have commented on the case. But none could help Qualcomm escape the punishment it deserved.

According to the 25th US-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade talks in December 2014, the list of fruits showed China has been improving the rule of law, making efforts to establish a fair and transparent market environment, which enable the market to play the decisive role in resource distribution.

From this angle, the Qualcomm case also shows China's determination to improve rule of law, and treat all companies equally according to law, which is the right direction.

The author is a researcher on American studies with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.