(Adds comment from Bombardier)
SHANGHAI, Sept 29 (Reuters) - China's Ministry of Commerce
has fined Canada's Bombardier BBDb.TO and a unit of local
trainmaker CRRC Corp 601766.SS 1766.HK 150,000 yuan
($23,572) each for setting up a joint venture before obtaining
prior government approval.
Bombardier and CSR Nanjing Puzhen agreed to invest 125
million yuan each in November 2014 to set up the joint venture
but only notified regulators in December, violating
anti-monopoly law, the ministry's bureau charged with
enforcement said in a statement on Tuesday.
It also said that further evaluations had concluded that the
joint venture would not affect competition. The two firms had
agreed to develop and manufacture vehicles for urban and airport
transit systems, according to Bombardier's website.
Marc Laforge, a Bombardier spokesman, said the notification
requirement was introduced when Bombardier and CSR were already
in the midst of forming their joint venture.
"At the end of the day, we're very satisfied that our joint
venture was approved," he said, adding that the company did not
plan to appeal the regulatory decision.
CSR Nanjing Puzhen was a unit of CSR Corp, which was merged
with rival trainmaker China CNR to create CRRC Corp earlier this
year.
($1 = 6.3636 Chinese yuan)