(2) How to collect information in the examinationBesides the information provided by the notifying parties and collected independently by the AMB in its inspection, the AMB have the following methods to collect information as well:

　　1) ConsultationIf necessary, the AMB shall consult with the related government authorities, associations, undertakings and consumers etc. for their opinions on the notified concentration. But the Examination Rule does not identify the exact procedures, such as how to choose those consulted institutions and individuals and when and how to do the consultation, all of which will impact the destiny of the notified concentration. We have to wait for the specific rule from the AMB to wipe off our doubt.

　　2) Hearinga. Initiation of the hearingIn the examination stages, including the preliminary stage and further stage, the hearing shall be conducted by the AMB on the initiation of its own or the relevant parties. But we can not get a clear idea about who will be included in the “relevant parties”, to what extent the AMB will conduct the hearing not initiated by itself and how long it will take to decide conducting the hearing.

　　b. Parties to be heardIf the hearing is held, the AMB shall notify the parties to be heard in writing, which may but not must include the undertakings concerned in the notified concentration, their competitors, enterprises in the upstream and downstream markets and the representatives from the other relevant enterprises. The AMB may also invite the relevant experts and the representatives from industrial associations, relevant government authorities and consumers. The AMB has enough discretion thereon.

　　c. PublicityIn the Draft of the Rules for the Undertaking Concentration Examination[10] (“the Draft Examination Rule”), the AMB states that the hearing will not be public. But the final Examination Rule keeps silent on the publicity of the hearing. In addition, the partied to be heard are allowed to apply to be heard separately having regard to the protection of the business secrets. The information disclosed in the separate hearing shall be kept confidential.

　　d. Procedurei.　The chairman of the hearing announces commencement and reads out the disciplines to be followed in the hearing;ii.　Check the identification of the parties heard;iii.　The parties heard make statements on issues raised in the hearing;iv. The chairman of the hearing consults the relevant parties heard with respect to issues raised in the hearing; andv.　The chairman of the hearing announces end of the hearing.

　　We also note that the hearing procedure and publicity problems are bound by the Administrative License Law of the People’s Republic of China[11] (“the License Law”). In this regards, the AMB is not expected to make further steps until the revision of the License Law by the National People’s Congress.

　　As mentioned in the second paragraph of part 4 of this article, the Initiation II can be started by the AMB itself. Though the AML has provided the procedures of the inspection done by the AMB on the notified concentration reaching the Thresholds, it seems that some of those procedures may not apply to the concentration not reaching the Thresholds which has been proved to have or would have effect of excluding or restricting competition (“the Un-notified Concentration”). Whereas the State Council has authorized the MOC to initiate the inspection on the Un-notified Concentration and in order to create legal basis for this inspection, the AMB issued the Draft Provisional Rules for the Collection of Evidence on the Un-Notified but Monopoly-involved Concentration[12] for public consultation on 19 January 2009, which has not been officially issued by the publication of this article.