A decade of enforcement: Hong Kong's competition landscape in 2025

A summary of the seminar jointly hosted by Freshfields and the British Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong.

On 6 November 2025, Rasul Butt, Chief Executive Officer of the Hong Kong Competition Commission (the Commission), delivered the keynote address at a seminar co-hosted by Freshfields and the British Chamber of Commerce. 

A panel discussion followed, featuring Lester Lee, Executive Director (Legal Services) of the Commission, Catrina Lam, Senior Counsel of Des Voeux Chambers, Dennis Beling, Managing Director of BRG and Freshfields partners, Tim Mak and Ninette Dodoo, who moderated the discussion.

This year marks the 10^th anniversary of full enforcement of Hong Kong’s competition law regime. Mr. Butt’s keynote speech and the ensuing panel discussion provided insights on the evolution of the enforcement of the Competition Ordinance in the past decade, the Commission’s enforcement priorities and anticipated competition law developments in Hong Kong. 

Key takeaways include:

• Enforcement has evolved over the past decade, and is expected to continue to evolve as the Commission steps up enforcement and the Competition Tribunal (Tribunal) delivers judgment in precedential cases. The Commission has tested the scope of its powers and built foundational case law based on hard-fought cases in the past decade, and companies have proactively settled cases serving to refine the Commission’s leniency and cooperation policies. Ten years on, the Commission is pursuing more complex, vigorously contested litigation.

  The Tribunal’s forthcoming judgments are keenly awaited. These judgments are expected to provide guidance on legal issues tested and argued before the Tribunal and to clarify key legal principles. Recent hearings in the pending cases highlight the Tribunal’s nuanced approach to the application of international precedents in Hong Kong, which calls for Hong Kong’s unique legal, cultural and market context to be taken into account when considering international precedents.

  The Commission has a high win rate to date and will take stock of lessons learnt in the event of future defeat. As the Commission noted, the optimal win rate for an enforcer is not 100% as that either means that the regulator is being too risk-adverse or that there is too much deference being paid by the judiciary to the regulator.  “Defeats” in the right cases for the right reasons are not something to be seen in a negative light.  Enforcement must remain well-within the contours of the law underscoring the robustness of the rule of law in Hong Kong.

• Obstruction of an investigation is serious and can attract criminal sanctions. 2025 saw the first criminal conviction for non-compliance with a Commission investigation. The case is a telling reminder that Hong Kong’s competition regime allows for criminal sanctions where parties seriously obstruct or fail to comply with an investigation such as by concealing or disposing of documents.
• The Commission will continue to focus on the same enforcement priorities in the coming year, with particular attention to anti-competitive syndicate activity. The Commission continues to prioritise anti-competitive conduct affecting people’s livelihood, cartels aimed at exploiting public funding as well as issues impacting digital markets. The Commission will also continue to work closely with other enforcement agencies to investigate cartels including those involving syndicates.
• Intelligence gathering is increasingly proactive. Targeted investigations are launched based on information sourced from diverse channels. In addition to relying on complaints to inform which sectors to prioritize for investigation, the Commission is increasingly conducting market surveys and utilizing AI tools to identify suspicious patterns with a view to launching targeted investigations. The Commission may also receive information and referrals from other enforcers and public bodies in Hong Kong.
• Competition law issues are increasingly raised in private actions and arbitration cases, mirroring trends in other jurisdictions. As Hong Kong’s competition regime continues to mature, there are increasing calls for legislative reforms to allow for standalone private actions to complement public enforcement. In addition, practitioners look forward to greater clarity on the arbitrability of competition law claims. This would signal Hong Kong’s commitment to welcoming competition disputes in arbitration – a step that, if taken, would contribute to preserving Hong Kong’s status as an arbitration hub.
• Hong Kong telecommunications merger reviews adopt a distinctive, market-specific approach. In the recent China Mobile Hong Kong Company Limited’s acquisition of HKBN Ltd., the Communications Authority (CA) adopted its well-established building-by-building fixed network analytical framework — an approach that is more granular than in other jurisdictions and reflects Hong Kong’s unique market characteristics. Although the CA’s decision on the vertical and conglomerate aspects of the merger was brief, the level of detail and kind of analyses conducted by the CA’s third-party consultant mirrored the CA’s approach in prior cases.

• The Commission expects a cross-sector merger control regime in Hong Kong in due course. The Commission emphasised that it is not a matter of “if” but rather a matter of “when” a sector-wide merger control regime will be adopted. 

  With thanks to Cherry Chung for her contribution to this article.