The Chinese government treats companies equally regardless of their ownership as it investigates anti-trust behavior, said Xu Kunlin, Director of the Anti-monopoly Bureau of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). He said that competition policy should become a key economic principle in China, and that only “heavy punches will work” to halt a rise in monopolistic practices by companies in the country. China could extend its anti-trust investigations to more industries such as petroleum, banking, automotive and telecommunications, which have a direct impact on the lives of ordinary Chinese. Last month, the NDRC fined a group of mostly foreign milk power producers a total of CNY668.8 million for price-fixing. Since China passed its landmark anti-trust law in 2008, the biggest fine imposed was on Kweichow Moutai Co, a leading luxury liquor maker, which was fined CNY247 million for violating price monopoly regulations early this year.