40% of China’s Online Goods are Fake, Low Quality

Beijing (PNA/Xinhua) — Only 58.7 percent of items in online trades were genuine or of good quality last year, a report delivered to Chinese lawmakers on Monday said.

In 2014, commerce authorities across the country received 77,800 complaints concerning online orders, a staggering increase of 356.6 percent, according to a report on the implementation of the Law on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Consumers.

The report, heard at a plenary meeting of the NPC Standing Committee presided over by top legislator Zhang Dejiang, urged tightened management on online trade.

While turnover of the country’s online retail increased by 40 percent annually to 2.8 trillion yuan (USD442 billion) last year, the manufacture and sale of shoddy or counterfeit goods has become a key concern in the sector, the report cited the Ministry of Commerce as saying.

The report urged accelerated legislation in e-commerce, improved supervision and clarification of consumers’ rights and sellers’ responsibilities.

Lawmakers also heard a report from the Supreme People’s Court revealing that courts are now accepting more administrative lawsuits thanks to a revised law that enables citizens to sue the government more easily, among other reasons.

Also at the meeting, Cao Jianming, president of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate outlined a campaign targeting convicts with money or power that are seeking commutation, parole or non-prison sentences illegally.

According to Cao, more than 88,800 cases where criminals were illegally released on probation, served their sentence outside of prison or have had jail terms commuted improperly were rectified between 2010 and August this year.

A report on the implementation of the Agricultural Law called for strengthened protection of rural resources and environment, a bigger role for technology and greater poverty relief effort.

Also on Monday, a series of reports were delivered at a chairpersons’ meeting of the 12th Standing Committee of the NPC, concerning various topics such as a draft amendment to the Seed Law, reform on market entry and registration for medical products and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) agreement. (PNA/Xinhua) JBP/EBP