2017年CRI Experts share insights on draft of China's e-commerce law

China has been making efforts to compile its first comprehensive law regulating the E-commerce market.

A seminar, hosted by the China Consumers' Association, has been held to discuss the draft of the law and how to protect consumers' rights and interests.

Experts made in-depth exploration on regulating E-commerce operators and illicit 1 competition, concluding that responsibilities should be further clarified for online businesses to better protect consumers.

CRI's Guan Chao has more.

Official data show that China's total e-commerce transactions reached nearly 30 trillion yuan in 2016, marking a growth of 25.5 percent year on year.

However, as the sector 2 changes people's lives, it is also creating issues and problems in a number of areas, including consumer rights and fair competition.

China first began formulating 3 its E-commerce Law in 2013, and a draft has now been sent for review by legal authorities.

Shi Jianzhong, Vice 4 president of China University of Political Science and Law, says that a comprehensive set of E-commerce laws will help address many issues closely related to the lives of consumers.

"Drivers on taxi-hailing platform Didi often cancel orders without giving reasons. DiDi refused to claim responsibilities, saying that as a third-party platform, they can only help handle complaints on contract violations 5. It's apparent that the platform is not involved in the transactions. In other words, we have no legal base to attribute their responsibility. To handle this issue, we need a new mechanism 6 that puts the actions of third-party platforms under regulation."

Beijing-based lawyer Qiu Baochang suggests the lawmakers should make further provisions on the joint 7 liabilities of E-commerce platforms.

"The draft provides that the platforms share joint responsibilities on Intellectual Property Rights. The sellers used to shoulder full responsibilities when consumers bought fake products or when their interests were harmed. Under the new law, the platforms are obliged to check for IPR infringements 8. This may be expanded to cover fake products and advertisements. The sellers shoulder part of the responsibilities based on platform rules."

Yang Xiaojun, Secretary of Beijing Consumers' Association, says new types of transactions, such as those made via "We Businesses," or small businesses run by individuals over social media, should also be regulated.

"So far, there has been no official definition for We Businesses. But problems are also emerging on these E-commerce platforms, such as fake products, problematic goods, and pyramid sales. So we think that the law should also cover these new transaction forms."

The China Consumers' Association, which has hosted the seminar, will submit the expert suggestions to China's top legislature for further review.

For CRI, I'm Guan Chao.