Regulatory conditions are “less certain and more challenging,” said James Zimmerman, a former chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China and managing partner of the Beijing office of law firm Sheppard Mullin Richter and Hampton.

“Foreign companies view recent investigations and prosecutions as politically motivated,” he said.

In an apparent effort to force down consumer prices, regulators have launched investigations of foreign auto, technology, pharmaceutical and dairy companies over the past two years using a 2008 anti-monopoly law.

In the auto industry, investigations appear to have been prompted by complaints prices of imported vehicles are too high and foreign automakers abuse their control over supplies of spare parts to gouge customers.

A spokesman for the Cabinet's planning agency, the National Development and Reform Commission, said investigators concluded Chrysler, a unit of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV, and Audi, Volkswagen AG's luxury unit, engaged in unspecified “monopolistic behavior.”

“They will be punished accordingly,” said the official, Li Pumin, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. The report gave no details of penalties.

Chrysler, Audi and Mercedes Benz, a unit of Germany's Daimler AG, had pre-emptively announced price cuts in response to the investigations.

On Sunday, Mercedes cut prices of replacement parts such as windshields and pumps for power steering by up to 29 percent. Audi announced cuts of up to 38 percent in July. On Tuesday, Chrysler announced a 20 percent price cut for its Grand Cherokee SRT8 and Grand Cherokee 5.7L models.

Imported luxury cars in China can cost three times what they do in the United States or Europe. Automakers say most of the difference is due to import and other taxes.

As for spare parts, automakers control supplies and can charge higher prices because they bar their component suppliers in China from selling to other retailers, said analyst John Zeng of LMC Automotive. He said an automaker might charge as much as 5,000 to 6,000 yuan (US$800 to US$1,000) that cost 200 yuan (US$30) to produce.

“I think there are some monopoly situations there,” said Zeng.

Others under investigation in the auto industry include 12 Japanese companies, according to another state news agency, the China News Service.

Microsoft is under investigation regarding its Windows operating system and how it handles compatibility, bundling and publication of documentation, according to the State Administration for Industry and Commerce.Business groups welcomed the 2008 law as a step toward clarifying operating conditions in China. Since then, they have said it is enforced more actively against foreign companies than against their Chinese rivals.

Microsoft said in a statement it “complies with the laws and regulations of every market” where it operates.

“Our business practices in China are designed to be compliant with Chinese law,” the company said.

Microsoft suffered another setback in May when the government announced it would not buy equipment that runs on the U.S. software giant's Windows 8 system. The government gave no explanation but a separate announcement the same week said it would start examining imported information technology for security flaws and bar suppliers that fail.

Also under investigation are Qualcomm Inc., a San Diego, California-based supplier of chips used by Chinese manufacturers of smartphones and other mobile devices, and InterDigital Inc., of Wilmington, Delaware, which licenses technology patents. The government has said it was looking into whether they abused their market dominance.

China is the world's biggest manufacturer of mobile phones and other wireless devices but relies on foreign technology. Communist leaders have decreed the investment of billions of dollars of investment in developing the country's own know-how, but progress is slower than they want.

The official China Daily newspaper on July 25 quoted a government official as saying Qualcomm “has a monopoly.” It gave no indication what possible penalties or orders to change business practices it might face.

Apple Inc. also has come under attack by Chinese state television, which claimed the location feature on its iPhone could allow the company to steal secrets and threaten national security. The company denied it worked with any foreign governments to create “backdoor access” and said location data stays in the phone.

“Companies are increasingly cautious about future investments,” said the American Chamber of Commerce in China in its April report.

Reasons include “market access restrictions, concerns with regard to government policies and perceptions that foreign business faces a less welcome environment,” it said.

中國考察的外國汽車製造商和科技公司

由喬·麥克唐納，美聯社
2014年8月7日，上午12:00 TWN

北京 - 中國的監管機構已經展開了一系列的外國汽車製造商和技術供應商的反壟斷調查，加強對外國公司，因為中國越來越不受歡迎的壓力。

週三，監管機構說，克萊斯勒和德國奧迪將受到懲罰違反反壟斷規則。奔馳和日本的企業也都備受矚目。探針微軟於上週公佈。

該調查是助長了抱怨北京使用的監管措施阻礙他們並促進潛在的中國競爭對手的技術和其他領域中侵犯了其自由貿易的承諾外國公司之間的不安。

監管條件為“少一些，更有挑戰性，”詹姆斯齊默爾曼，在中國美國商會前主席和律師事務所盛智里克特和漢普頓北京辦事處的管理合夥人說。

“外國公司查看最近的調查和起訴是出於政治動機，”他說。

在這顯然是為了壓低消費價格，監管機構已經在使用2008年的反壟斷法在過去兩年推出的外國汽車，科技，醫藥，乳品企業的調查。

在汽車行業，調查似乎已經提示了進口車的投訴價格過高和外國汽車製造商濫用其控制權備件挖出客戶供應。

發言人內閣的規劃機構國家發展和改革委員會說，調查人員得出結論克萊斯勒，菲亞特克萊斯勒汽車內華達州，和奧迪，德國大眾汽車公司的豪華單位，從事未指定單位“的壟斷行為。”

“他們將受到相應的處罰，”該官員說，黎鋪抿，根據官方的新華社。該報告給出的處罰細節。

克萊斯勒，奧迪和奔馳，德國的戴姆勒股份公司的子公司，擁有先發製人宣布降價響應調查。

上週日，奔馳切更換零件，如擋風玻璃的價格和高達29％的泵助力轉向。奧迪宣布了高達38％的削減七月。上週二，克萊斯勒宣布降價為其大切諾基SRT8和大切諾基5.7L車型的20％。

進口豪華車在中國可以花費三倍他們在美國或歐洲。汽車製造商說，大多數的差值是由於進口和其他稅項。

至於零部件，汽車用品的控制，並可以收取更高的價格，因為他們出售給其他零售商禁止其零部件供應商在中國的分析師約翰曾LMC Automotive的。他說，一個汽車製造商可能會收取高達5000至6000元人民幣（800美元至1000美元）的耗資2億元人民幣（30美元）來生產。

“我認為有一些壟斷的情況出現，”曾慶紅說。

根據調查，在汽車行業其他包括12日本公司，根據另一個國家通訊社，中國新聞社。

商業團體歡迎2008年的法律對明確的工作條件在中國邁出的一步。從那時起，他們已經表示，它正在實施更加積極地對外國公司比對他們的中國對手。

微軟正在調查有關Windows操作系統以及它是如何處理的兼容性，捆綁銷售和出版文檔，根據國家工商行政管理總​​局和商務部。

微軟在其“符合法律，每一個市場的法規”，它的運作一份聲明中說。

“我們在中國的商業行為被設計成符合中國法律，”該公司表示。

微軟再遭挫折五月，當政府宣布，將不會購買美國軟件巨頭的Windows 8系統上運行的設備。政府沒有給出解釋，但另一項聲明中的同一個星期表示，將開始研究引進信息技術的安全缺陷和失敗的酒吧供應商。

此外，根據調查，有高通，芯片使用的智能手機和其他移動設備的中國製造商圣迭戈，加利福尼亞州的供應商，InterDigital的公司，特拉華州威爾明頓，其中授權專利技術。政府已經表示，它正在調查他們是否濫用其市場主導地位。

中國是世界上最大的移動電話和其它無線設備製造商，但依賴於國外技術。共產黨領導人已經下令在發展本國的訣竅數十億美元投資的投資，但進展慢於他們想要的。

官方的中國日報7月25日援引一名政府官員的話稱通“具有壟斷地位，”它沒有說明哪些可能的罰款或命令來改變它可能面臨的商業行為。

蘋果公司也受到了攻擊中國的國家電視台，聲稱在其iPhone的定位功能可以讓公司竊取機密，威脅國家安全。該公司否認與任何外國政府合作，打造“後門”，並表示位置的數據保留在手機中。

“公司對未來的投資越來越謹慎，”美國商會在中國在其4月份的報告說。

原因包括“市場准入限制，對於政府的政策和觀念的關注，外國企業面臨著一個不太受歡迎的環境中，”它說。