1. Introduction

After a thirteen year’ legislative debate, the Anti-monopoly Law of China was enacted in August 2007 and came into force in August 2008. The first decade enforcement experience has shown that the AML has three main characteristics: incorporating non-economic goals into the purpose of the law; the predominant influence of administrative power in the practices of monopoly agreement, abuse of dominant position and concentrations; and the prevailing pattern of administrative enforcement. This book aims to explore the underlying political, economic and legal environment of those characteristics and to understand the advantages and limitations of the Chinese competition law and policy when a law and economics analytical framework is adopted. The introductory chapter provides an overview of the research question, structure of the book, and the methodology of law and economics, comparative legal studies and behavioural economics. It also discusses the academic and social relevance of this book.