Just in time for World Consumer Rights Day on March 15, the China Consumers Association has published ten measures to protect Chinese consumers' rights, focusing on seven major industries including retail, food, and hospitality.
There are some unpublished rules in China by which some companies abide. These include rules such as "no return or exchange of discounted products" in the retail sector and "no customer supplied drinks" in the food sector. CCA says that there are many more undeclared rules in travel, entertainment, home decoration, beauty, training, and other fields, though most of them are unknown by consumers, and they put consumers at a disadvantage. CCA says it will organize experts to analyze these hidden rules and disallow them before publishing a report to the public.
CCA will also organize experts, lawyers and local consumer associations to form teams to study and discuss amending China's Consumer Interest Protection Law to better protect consumers' interest.
Other measures to be taken by CCA are reported to include holding online interviews on such topical issues as food safety and corporate social responsibility; releasing guidelines on scientific consumption and compiling an outline on consumption education; exposing infringements in the consumption sector and asking the concerned departments to strengthen on their supervision of the hidden risks of the consumption field; and reinforcing consumption guidelines in rural areas and providing a green channel for bringing home appliances to the countryside.
CCA says some of its other tasks involve providing consumption service and consulting services to consumers together with references to the government's decision-making process; paying attention to emerging consumer issues and releasing CCA's viewpoints in a timely manner; enhancing the capacity to deal with consumer complaints and improve consumer restitution processes; and organizing events to update consumers about the status of consumer rights protection in China.
