New law tackles monopolies

China's State Council approved a new Anti-Monopoly Law Wednesday to control monopoly formation by giant state-owned companies and multinationals. The legislation was approved in principle during a meeting chaired by Premier Wen Jiabao. It will now be submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for approval, but state media provided no further details. The director of the State Council's Development Research Centre, Xie Fuzhan, said the central government should safeguard the security of the national economy and prevent risks of monopolies resulting from mergers and acquisitions by foreign companies. The Anti-Monopoly Law was originally scheduled for debate by the NPC in March but was withdrawn at the last minute.