A survey conducted by the American Chamber of Commerce showed that foreign companies in China feel that they are targeted by the country's anti-monopoly investigation, which in turn could affect foreign investment.

The chamber said majority of foreign companies in China believe investigations on anti-monopoly, food safety, and other rules are aimed at tightening China's grip on foreign firms and protect local companies hurt by competition.

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China has so far scrutinized at least 30 foreign companies, prompting US firms to seek the help of Washington. The European Chamber of Commerce has earlier announced that investigations in China appeared to be unfairly targeting foreign companies.

Among those that have been investigated are Microsoft and Volkswagen. The State Administration for Industry and Commerce said it had given Microsoft Corp 20 days to reply to queries by investigators regarding the compatibility of its Windows operating system and Office software suite.

 The National Development Reform Commission (NDRC), China's anti-monopoly bureau, also last month slapped a US$201 million fine on 12 Japanese car manufacturers for price manipulation. The amount was record fine.

While American and other foreign companies believed they are targeted by Chinese investigators, Xu Kunlin, director general of price supervision and the anti-monopoly bureau at the NDRC, however, reiterated that the agency was giving equal treatment to local and foreign companies.

In an interview the China Daily, Xu said China's latest antitrust probes are not protectionist tools that favor local companies.

"Such accusations are groundless and baseless," the China Daily quoted Xu as saying. "Some of the NDRC monopoly investigations involve overseas multinationals, but that does not mean that we are targeting them.

He stressed that some business operators in China, both local and foreign, have failed to adjust their practices in accordance with the anti-monopoly law. Others, he added, have a clear understanding of the laws but they take the chance that they may escape punishment.

TagsChina Anti Trust Probes, China Investigations