Samsung, LG and four Taiwanese firms have been fined heavily for price-fixing of liquid crystal display (LCD) panels on the Chinese mainland.

　　These companies have been ordered to pay 144 million yuan in fines and return 172 million yuan of extra payment to Chinese mainland buyers. The government also confiscated 36.75 million yuan of their illegal gains, China's top price regulator said Friday.

　　The four firms from Taiwan are Chi Mei Optoelectronics, AU Optronics, Chunghwa Picture Tubes and HannStar Display.

　　The six companies were fined for price-rigging on the Chinese mainland between 2001 and 2006, according to the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

　　The NDRC launched an investigation after receiving multiple complaints since Dec. 2006 about price-fixing involving the six companies.

　　During the investigation, the firms confessed that they held 53 meetings between 2001 and 2006 to fix the prices of flat panels supplied to the Chinese mainland market. This harmed the interests of both other LCD panel suppliers and consumers, according to the NDRC.

　　LCD panels accounted for about 80 percent of the production cost of color TVs during the 2001-2006 period. More recently, the rate is around 70 percent, according to NDRC data.

　　The 172 million yuan that was illegally obtained from Chinese television manufacturers has now been reimbursed to these companies, said the NDRC.

　　The six companies also vowed to extend the free warranty period of their LCD panels for TV producers on the Chinese mainland from 18 months to 36 months, which could save manufacturers 395 million yuan each year on maintenance costs, the NDRC added.

　　However, some online comments showed their dissatisfaction, saying the fine could not be compared to that levied by the United States and the European Union on companies for similar deeds, which amounted to about 1 billion U.S. dollars.

　　"The incident is a milestone for Chinese market regulators who will act hard if anyone plays against rules," said Prof. Wu Hong, Dean of School of Economic Laws under East China University of Political Science and Law.

　　1月4日，中国对境外企业价格垄断开出首张罚单——韩国三星、LG，中国台湾地区奇美、友达、中华映管和瀚宇彩晶等六家国际大型面板生产商，因垄断液晶面板价格，遭到国家发改委经济制裁3.53亿元人民币。这是中国首次对境外企业开出价格垄断罚单，也是迄今为止中国开出的金额最高的一张价格违法罚单。这是继美国和欧盟之后，中国对液晶面板价格垄断的一次打击。虽然与欧美数十亿美元的罚款额度相比，中国罚3.53亿元人民币相对较小，但对于中国反垄断事业来说意义重大，表明了中国完善市场经济制度的改革和探索正在加速前进；政府也有意加快职能转型，以符合市场经济发展的要求。