Research on Anti-monopoly of Horizontal M&A of Platform Enterprises in the Background of Digital Economy

（Party School of the Xi'an Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China ，Xi'an 710000，Shaanxi，China） Abstract：Horizontal M&A in the digital market，which has anti- competitive effects and has a significant impact on consumer welfare，is a hot issue of antitrust law. Based on the attributes of platform enterprises and the characteristics of horizontal M&A in the digital market，the literature research method and comparative research method are used to analyze the controversial issues in the horizontal M&A of digital platform enterprises ，namely the unclear positive relationship between market share and market power，the contradiction between market concentration and access barriers ，and the conflict between efficiency principles and welfare standards. It is the existence of these controversial points that increases the difficulty of antimonopoly regulation. It is found that there are so many difficulties in anti-monopoly of horizontal M&A of flatform enterprises in China，such as difficulties in controlling the strength of regulation and giving consideration to all the diversified objectives， dispute in the nature of alternative analysis and the immature quantitative analysis ，and the realistic difficulties in the impact of competition on assessment and the implementation of relief measures. In improving the horizontal anti- monopoly regulatory system for digital platform enterprises，we should，first，adhere to the principle of classified treatment，and spend different regulatory efforts in the cultivation，growth and maturity stages；second，we should promote the innovation of anti- monopoly implementation mechanism，pay less attention to related market definition and the market power measurement based on direct evidence，and pay more attention to evaluation of the net effect of horizontal M&A based on digital technology ；third，we should improve the anti- monopoly rules，strengthen the coordination of departmental law enforcement ，the coordination of antimonopoly regulations and industrial policies，and the coordination of anti-monopoly regulations and government data opening to enhance the coordination of anti-monopoly regulations.

Key words：digital economy；platform enterprises；horizontal M&A；anti-monopoly；regulation