Guideline addresses monopolies in auto sector

The purchasing of cars online has become widely popular in the country. China's e-commerce website Yiche. com said it sold 77,992 cars online on Nov 11, better known as Singles Day in China, with their combined sales revenue amounting to 12.56 billion yuan. On the same day, autohome.com sold 54,085 cars, reaping 8.79 billion yuan.

The draft also includes favorable policies for new-energy vehicles, allowing dealers to sell cars at automakers' designated prices during a promotional period of up to nine months.

Such acts would be deemed monopolistic under other circumstances, according to the draft.

Any organizations, including government departments, which ban the entry of used cars into local markets will be charged with monopolistic practices, according to the draft.

The move will facilitate transactions of used cars nationwide, said the China Automobile Dealers Association, which has called for lifting such bans.

The association said about 300 cities have such restrictive measures.

The draft also touches upon parallel imported cars, stipulating that carmakers should not forbid their dealers from servicing such cars.

In addition, automakers are required in the draft to ensure the public has access to information about their models' maintenance.

The transport ministry published a similar regulation in September that demands carmakers make public all information about repairing and maintaining the models they sell.

Before the regulation took effect in January 2016, only authorized dealers had access to such information, which had made it easy for them to charge exorbitant prices.