(Corrects dateline to Feb 19)
SHANGHAI/BEIJING, Feb 19 (Reuters) - China's monopolies regulator has been collecting evidence of possible anti-competitive behaviour in the country's auto parts market, it said on Wednesday.
Foreign carmakers were accused by Chinese state television in December of charging customers more for repairs in China than in other markets, leading to suggestions that the auto parts sector could be the next target for the country's anti-monopoly campaign.
"We have always been watching, conducting informal investigations and collecting information ... but have not officially set up the case," Xu Kunlin, head of the National Development and Reform Commission's (NDRC) anti-monopoly and price supervision bureau, told a press conference in Beijing on Wednesday.
The NDRC has launched a number of investigations into Chinese and foreign companies over the past year, from wine makers to jewellers. ($1 = 6.0916 Chinese yuan) (Reporting by Samuel Shen and Kevin Yao; Editing by David Goodman and Paul Tait)