China: New consumer protection law

 

On the 15 March 2024, the new Regulations for the Implementation of the Consumer Rights Protection Law of the People’s Republic of China were adopted in China.

Among the sellers’ (further called operators) obligations are:

• Operators who provide goods or services to consumers (including providing free goods or services to consumers in the form of rewards, gifts, trials, etc.) shall ensure that the goods or services meet the requirements for protecting personal and property safety. If goods or services provided for free are defective but do not violate mandatory provisions of the law and do not affect normal performance, operators shall truthfully inform consumers before providing goods or services.
• Operators shall ensure that their business premises and facilities meet the requirements for protecting personal and property safety, take necessary safety protection measures, and set up corresponding warning signs. When consumers encounter danger or are harmed in their business premises, operators should provide timely and necessary assistance.
• If an operator discovers that the goods or services it provides may be defective and endanger personal or property safety, it shall promptly take relevant measures in accordance with the provisions of Article 19 of the Consumer Rights Protection Law. If recall measures are taken, operators who produce or import goods shall formulate recall plans, publish recall information, clearly inform consumers of the relevant rights, keep complete recall records, and bear the necessary expenses incurred by consumers due to the recall of goods. Operators related to product sales, leasing, repair, parts production and supply, entrusted production, etc. shall perform recall-related assistance and cooperation obligations in accordance with the law.
• Operators shall use an easy-to-understand method to truly and comprehensively provide consumers with information related to goods or services, and shall not fabricate business operators’ qualifications, qualifications or honors, or fabricate product or service transaction information or business data. Tampering, fabricating, and concealing user reviews, etc., to conduct false or misleading publicity to deceive and mislead consumers.
• Operators shall, in accordance with relevant national regulations, clearly indicate the product name, price and pricing unit or service items, content, price and pricing method and other information in a conspicuous manner, so that the price tags are complete, the content is true and accurate, and the labels are clear.
• Operators shall indicate their true name and mark in a conspicuous position of their business premises.
• Operators that provide goods or services through the Internet, television, telephone, mail order, etc. shall clearly indicate or explain their true name and mark on their home page, video screen, voice, product catalog, etc. If another operator actually provides goods or services, the operator’s name, business address, contact information and other information shall also be provided to consumers.

To find out more about product compliance and consumer protection in China, please contact the Product Compliance Institute directly.