SAMR is China's primary antitrust regulator, although its authority also has some overlap with the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

[1]: 114 As of at least 2024, the SAMR provincial agencies for Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai have been particularly active in antitrust enforcement.

[2][3] SAMR was created under the banner of the Central Comprehensively Deepening Reforms Commission under Xi Jinping, current General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party.

[4] In 2018, SAMR began a probe into Pinduoduo following the company being criticized extensively in domestic media for its selling of shanzhai and counterfeit products.

[1]: 111  Among other provisions, the guidelines state that variable interest entity structures will no longer be exempt from merger review and that SAMR may investigate acquisitions of emerging platforms even when the parties turnover does not meet notification thresholds.