China Fines 21 Liner Companies

Some 21 shipping companies operating on Sino-Japan routes have been fined for violating international regulations on fair competition, China’s Transport Ministry informed.

The move follows an investigation launched by the ministry in 2014 that found that certain shipping companies operating on the route had offered lower market prices to attract clients, thus breaching fair competition rules.

Namely, the ministry’s investigators found that information kept in certain companies’ records did not match the actual tariffs and average market prices whereas some of them did not keep any records on the prices or even refused to cooperate.

The accumulated amount of the fines totals in USD 684,000 (RMB 4.25 million), the ministry said.

The group of companies that have been fined includes some renowned market players such as Orient Overseas Container Lines (OOCL), Evergreen Marine, Sinotrans Container Lines, Yang Ming Marine and China Shipping Container Lines among others.

The ministry called on the regulators to stringently implement the relevant tariffs so as to secure the stability and fairness of the market.