Author: Shi Jianzhong, Member of the Expert Advisory Group of the Anti-Monopoly Committee of the State Council, Professor of China University of Political Science and Law
Maintaining Fair Competition in Academic Document Database Service Market
Promote the healthy development of industry norms, innovation
1. CNKI is suspected of engaging in monopolistic behavior, and should be investigated according to law
Academic literature is a knowledge product with intellectual achievements as the core. In the digital age, academic literature databases aggregate academic literature, and use digital technology to systematically digitize academic literature to achieve precise retrieval and query, online reading and download convenience, and upgrade literature information services to knowledge services. An important channel and platform for disseminating knowledge, sharing knowledge, and serving knowledge innovation. It should be affirmed that CNKI has continuously innovated and developed in the Chinese academic literature information service and knowledge service market, and has become the most influential academic literature digital service platform in China. But at the same time, CNKI was suspected of monopolistic behavior in the course of business operation, which harmed the interests of consumers. The anti-monopoly law enforcement agency initiated the investigation procedure according to law, which is very timely and necessary.
It is understood that CNKI has been in a leading position for a long time in the type and quantity of Chinese academic literature, the number of journals, the quantity and quality of exclusive journals, the scale and coverage of users, the degree of user dependence, and market sales. Unfairly formatted terms in service agreements, whether it’s purchasing academic literature or selling knowledge digitized products at prices that are almost free from competition. According to the analysis, it can be basically determined that CNKI has a dominant market position. Based on various information, CNKI has signed exclusive agreements with a large number of journals and universities, restricting their cooperation with other third-party academic literature database service platforms, locking in upstream high-quality academic resources, and artificially creating barriers to knowledge flow, making it difficult for other competitors to compete fairly. , affecting the sharing and dissemination of knowledge. At the same time, CNKI obtained super-high profits by collecting at low prices and selling at high prices. In the absence of justifiable reasons, it has greatly increased database prices for many years, increasing the burden on users and harming the interests of consumers. CNKI’s above-mentioned actions undermined the fair competition order in the relevant market, hindered the dissemination of academic literature and knowledge sharing, damaged the ecological environment of knowledge innovation, deviated from the original intention of building “China’s knowledge infrastructure project”, and triggered the national academic community,educateIt is a great worry for the world, the publishing industry, and the book industry.
The State Administration for Market Regulation conducts anti-monopoly investigations on CNKI in accordance with the law to stop monopolistic behavior in the academic literature database service market, maintain fair competition in the market, provide journals, authors, institutional users and readers with more choices, and protect authors and readers as the main body. Consumer interests and social public interests are aimed at promoting the development of related industries and even the improvement and innovative development of the entire academic ecological environment, which is conducive to the innovation and dissemination of knowledge, and promotes the development and prosperity of socialist culture and scientific undertakings.
2. The investigation into CNKI has released an important signal of normalized supervision of the platform economy in accordance with the law
The platform economy is a new organizational method of productivity and a new driving force for economic development. It plays an important role in optimizing resource allocation, promoting industrial upgrading, expanding consumer markets, and stabilizing employment. In recent years, the CPC Central Committee has attached great importance to the standardized governance of the platform economy. Anti-monopoly law enforcement agencies have investigated and dealt with a series of major typical cases in accordance with the law, focusing on solving some prominent competition problems in the platform economy, and promoting sustainable and healthy development through regulatory norms. On April 29, the Politburo meeting of the Central Committee re-emphasized that “to promote the healthy development of the platform economy, complete the special rectification of the platform economy, and implement normalized supervision.” CNKI is a typical platform company, and the investigation into it is to thoroughly implement the specific measures of the CPC Central Committee to implement normalized supervision, which is conducive to releasing a clear and clear signal to the market, so that the market can establish a more reliable, stable and sustainable expectation for the rule of law. , enhance the self-compliance awareness of platform enterprises, guide and motivate platform enterprises to carry out high-level competition through technological innovation and model innovation, and continuously improve their core competitiveness. Through the implementation of normalized anti-monopoly supervision, we will continue to purify the competitive environment in the platform economy, optimize the innovation mechanism, ensure the healthy and high-quality development of the platform economy, and give better play to the platform economy’s role in promoting technological innovation, prospering the economy, facilitating people’s lives, Active role in participating in international competition.
3. Adhere to both standardization and development, and take multiple measures to promote the sustainable and healthy development of the academic literature database industry
The State Administration for Market Regulation conducts an anti-monopoly investigation on CNKI. The fundamental purpose is to regulate CNKI’s business behavior, restore relevant market competition order as soon as possible, fully stimulate market vitality and innovation power, promote the sustainable and healthy development of the industry, and better protect the interests of consumers and consumers. social public interest. It is worth noting that to regulate the healthy development of the academic literature database service market, it is necessary to simultaneously improve and improve relevant mechanisms and measures in multiple aspects and perspectives: in terms of management system, we must adhere to systematic thinking, adhere to both regulation and development, and focus on strengthening industry supervision and development. The overall coordination of anti-monopoly law enforcement will further strengthen the coordination between competition policy, science and technology policy, scientific research policy, and copyright policy, and form a synergy of regulatory norms and support for development. In terms of development mode, actively introduce competition, cultivate competition, and support competition in the academic literature database market, break the traditional monopoly of academic data resources, promote the formation of a diversified, sufficient and effective competition pattern, and provide consumers with more and better database services . In terms of regulatory measures, focus on the comprehensive use of a combination of rigid and flexible cascaded regulatory measures, further strengthen the administrative guidance for large databases such as CNKI, urge and guide them to actively fulfill their social responsibilities, and actively promote data openness and sharing. In terms of industry development, actively research and explore the construction plan of public welfare academic platform, realize the organic combination of public welfare and marketization, more effectively solve the problems of high cost of knowledge acquisition and poor information exchange and sharing, and further improve the supply capacity of innovation resources, create A good academic ecology promotes knowledge sharing, academic innovation and technological progress, serves the national innovation-driven development strategy, and promotes the continuous improvement of overall social welfare.
