Martial Arts: "Korean Companies Must Prepare for Strengthened Consumer Protection in China"

China Focuses on Protecting Consumer Rights
Our Companies Must Also Prepare for Complaints and Regulatory Crackdowns

2021 China Consumer Complaint Analysis

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Sun-mi] As the Chinese government is implementing policies to expand the domestic market while also focusing on protecting consumer rights, advice has emerged that Korean companies should prepare for complaints from Chinese consumers and regulatory crackdowns.

According to the "Strengthening Consumer Rights in China: Cases and Implications from the March 15 Consumer Day" report released on the 17th by the Shanghai branch of the Korea International Trade Association, the number of complaints received by the China Consumers Association in 2021 increased by 6.3% year-on-year to approximately 1.04 million cases.

By type of complaint, "Customer Service (A/S)" accounted for the highest proportion at 31.5%, followed by "Contracts" (27.2%), "Quality" (20%), "Price" (4.4%), and "False Advertising" (4.4%). Recently, smart consumption disputes such as new energy vehicles (issues with driving safety, batteries, false reporting of driving range, etc.) and online robot counselors (inability to resolve issues, difficulty connecting to human counselors, lack of human counselors, etc.) have emerged as urgent problems.

The China Consumers Association and China CCTV compile these consumer complaint cases and broadcast a program called "3.15 Wan Hui (Evening Gala)" every March 15. This year’s 3.15 Wan Hui highlighted cases related to online consumption, food safety and hygiene, and domestic Chinese companies. Key cases included illegal impersonation of Wanghong to obtain user subsidies, deletion of negative comments and articles, non-compliance with safety and hygiene standards during food production and raw material procurement, excessive use of preservatives, and disguising low-cost raw materials as high-priced ones.

Shin Sun-young, head of the Shanghai branch, stated, “With the recent strengthening of consumer rights protection in China, complaints related to internet sales such as overseas direct purchases, live commerce, and comment manipulation are rapidly increasing, and reports in new sectors such as the service industry and electric vehicles are also rising.” She emphasized, “As government crackdowns on the reported industries are expected, Korean companies operating in China must prepare accordingly. Going forward, safety and hygiene in the manufacturing process, compliance management, and building a consumer-friendly corporate image will be increasingly required.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.