China commerce ministry to investigate Comcast, DreamWorks deal

SHANGHAI, Sept 2 (Reuters) - China will launch an anti-monopoly investigation into Comcast Corp's purchase of DreamWorks Animation after receiving complaints that the deal could hurt competition in the Chinese market.

"Recently MOFCOM received complaints regarding Comcast's decision to buy out DreamWorks, claiming that the deal would hurt competition in the Chinese market," Shen Danyang, spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) told reporters on Friday

"MOFCOM will investigate this complaint case based on anti-monopoly laws," he said.

Comcast Corp said in April it would buy DreamWorks Animation for $3.8 billion. DreamWorks, producer of the "Kung Fu Panda" and "Shrek" franchises, was one of the first Hollywood studios to open a production studio in China.

(Reporting by Yawen Chen; Writing by Brenda Goh)