BEIJING, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Regulating the monopolistic behavior of multinational companies in accordance with the law helps maintain fair competition in the international market and promotes innovative industrial development, a Chinese scholar said on Wednesday.

China's market regulator, the State Administration for Market Regulation, announced on Tuesday that U.S. tech giant Google is under investigation for suspected violations of the country's anti-monopoly law.

The antitrust investigation may be linked to Google's Android operating system business, wrote Professor Zhang Chenying from Tsinghua University School of Law, in an article published Wednesday on the People's Daily app.

Since Google ceased its search services in the Chinese mainland in 2010, its operations in the country have been relatively limited, primarily involving the provision of the Android operating system to Chinese smartphone manufacturers, she said.

Zhang pointed out that Google's Android operating system has maintained its position as the world's largest mobile operating system since 2012, holding an absolute advantage in the market. Approximately 70 percent of smartphones worldwide are produced by Chinese manufacturers, however, most of them rely on Google's Android operating system.

Zhang further highlighted that Google has leveraged its dominant market position in terms of the Android mobile operating system to impose various technological and commercial restrictions on Chinese smartphone manufacturers -- such as using partnerships with hardware and software manufacturers, as well as overseas telecommunications operators, to require pre-installation of its entire suite of applications.

These restrictive measures, combined with Google's products and services such as app stores and search engines, have created a powerful commercial ecosystem in the mobile internet era. This not only strengthens Google's monopolistic position in the mobile operating system market but also excludes and restricts competition in related markets, hindering industry innovation and development, the scholar explained.

She noted that antitrust enforcement agencies in regions such as the European Union, the Republic of Korea and India have also investigated Google's monopolistic practices in the mobile operating system market.

"China's antitrust enforcement move against Google is consistent with the measures taken by other major jurisdictions worldwide. It adheres to antitrust regulations widely accepted globally, making it a lawful and professional enforcement action," Zhang said.

The scholar added that China's mobile communications industry has strong production capabilities and a vast market advantage, providing a solid foundation for the development of new mobile operating systems and the creation of a more vibrant commercial ecosystem.

Strengthening oversight of multinational monopolistic behavior and urging Google to revoke unreasonable restrictions and practices will help establish a more equitable and reasonable international market competition order, she said.

"It will also enable Chinese enterprises to participate more effectively in global market competition and cooperation -- and inject new momentum into industrial innovation and global economic development," Zhang concluded. Enditem

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