Conditions supporting vigorous market competition in the People’s Republic of China were revived after the interruption of a generation-long experiment in central planning. Transition reforms began in the 1970s by acknowledging and encouraging initiative in local markets, which led to vigorous competition among township and village enterprises and regions. Opening to outside markets destabilised monopolies. As competition became established by the 1990s, the focus of reform turned to create the laws and institutions needed to support enterprise markets on a national scale. China adopted a general competition law in August 2007 that became effective a year later. China’s Antimonopoly Law follows familiar international practices about horizontal and vertical restrictive agreements, abuse of dominance and mergers. Like competition laws in many jurisdictions, the Antimonopoly Law pursues several policy goals. Many details, such as merger notification thresholds, remain to be determined by regulations and guidelines and by experience in applying it. China is now completing the restructuring of the heavy-industry heritage of its once-planned economy. The challenges of transition to a market economy are being succeeded by challenges of development, along with the familiar problems of regulatory reform, of providing infrastructure and public services in a market setting. Curbing government intrusion that tries to protect special interests by dampening competition and favouring particular competitors is complicated by the complexity of the relationships between national and local levels of government authority.