(Yicai Global) Sept. 11 -- China's Anti-Monopoly Law is set to be amended for the first time in a decade. Relevant departments have started researching the amendment and will strive to submit their results to Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council. Authorities are discussing a revised proposal draft.

The amendment would establish a fundamental position on competition policy, set up a pre-review mechanism for monopolies, and legalize a fair competition review system, China Securities Journal reported today, citing experts.

The market economy should give full play to the role of competitive mechanisms, and establish a fundamental position on competition policy, they said. The current Anti-Monopoly Law is deficient in this respect, for it has established a post-review mechanism, the experts said.

Under the current law, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) have enforced Anti-Monopoly laws and investigated entities that had formed monopolies. The amendment aims to establish a pre-review mechanism and to add a fair competition review system that is systemized, programmed and standardized in the form of law, said Shi Jianzhong, an expert from the Office of State Council's Anti-Monopoly Commission (AMC) and Vice President of China University of Political Science and Law.

The current anti-monopoly rules were used to solve competition problems in the era of the industrial economy, and may be outdated for resolving issues in the data economy era. Research should be used to help the anti-monopoly rules catch up with the internet economy, and policymakers should adjust rules in a timely manner, said Ali Research, an institution under Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. [NYSE:BABA].