Anti-Monopoly Review of Mergers in the Digital Economy – A Comparative Perspective of the EU and China

'Digital economy' has become a buzz phrase since the turn of this century. 'Digitalisation' has been changing almost every industry. Jurisdictions all over the world are deliberating how to make the best use of the digital economy to benefit social welfare, while, at the same time, avoiding side effects on social advancement. Competition agencies are at the front line of this debate and response. This PhD thesis identifies challenges posed by the digital economy to merger control, a branch of competition law. It then explores whether the traditional competition tools can still tackle these challenges. If they can, should these traditional tools be adapted to the digital economy? If they cannot, what new tools should be introduced? The European Union is at the forefront of competition enforcement, including merger control, in the digital economy. Despite its proactiveness, the European merger enforcement has been criticised. This thesis argues that the merger control has had some successes but also jarring failures like Google/DoubleClick. This thesis argues that China should consider its own social and economic context when learning from the EU legal experience. China has been criticized for lacking transparency and consistency. These lack of transparency and consistency may be explained by the abstract and general merger control rules and the Chinese competition authorities' relatively immature enforcement experience. As the State Administration for Market Regulation accumulates more decisional practice, it will make more compelling decisions. However, these lack of transparency and consistency also means that the Chinese competition authority can act swiftly, responding to challenges raised by the digital economy, instead of waiting for a lengthy legislative procedure. Chinese legislators and enforcers should endeavour to reach a proper balance between flexibility and predictability, thus encouraging investment through mergers and acquisitions to benefit consumer and social welfare while at the same time maintaining a competitive and contestable market