A Role Model

By Zhang Shasha

Li Zhi， a postgraduate student at the Chinese Academy of Sciences， always orders his lunch online. On January 4， when he and his two roommates happened to order their takeout lunch from the same restaurant around the same time， to their surprise， the delivery fee varied. While one paid 3 yuan（$0.44）， the other two paid different sums. The fluctuation was by no means an accident. Along with some food delivery platforms， several online travel and entertainment service providers were found to set different prices for their goods and services according to the different big data gathered from different customers. The untold rule allegedly is that regular customers and those not so sensitive to changes in the pricing will be charged more than new customers and those who are price-sensitive. While providing conveniences for consumers， the Internet has also created exploitable loopholes for profi t-seeking merchants.

However， customers will be better protected now with Chinas first e-commerce law taking effect on January 1 to discipline the market and provide legal protection for online trading activities.

“It is a landmark，” Zhou Hui， Deputy Secretary General of the China Cyber & Information Law Society， told Beijing Review.“As the worlds first comprehensive law on e-commerce， it will not only have a model effect on domestic legislation on network and information， but will also provide an example for the rest of the world on how to develop legislation on the subject.”

Focus of attention

The past 20 years have seen an e-commerce boom in China. Starting from the late 1990s， it has been expanding and injecting vitality into the economy. According to the China E-Commerce Research Center， online retail sales of goods and services in the country reached 7.1 trillion yuan （$1.05 trillion） in 2017， accounting for 19.6 percent of total retail sales. The value of e-commerce transactions totaled 22.69 trillion yuan （$3.31 trillion） in the fi rst three quarters of 2018， up 11.2 percent year on year.

Before the e-commerce law came into effect， online transactions in China were mainly regulated by the General Provisions of the Civil Law from 1987 and other statutes like the Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests.

In 1996， the Model Law on Electronic Commerce was adopted by the UN Commission on International Trade Law to facilitate e-commerce by providing a set of internationally acceptable rules to national legislators. However， it is not an offi cial piece of legislation. Thus， Chinas e-commerce law has attracted global attention.

The new law was adopted by the Standing Committee of the National Peoples Congress on August 31， 2018， after four rounds of deliberations by lawmakers.“Considering the robust momentum of e-commerce in China， the law is both necessary and important，” Zhou said， adding that a key step in promoting the sustainable and healthy development of the sector is to address problems such as infringement upon consumer rights and lack of personal data protection.

“Chinas fi rst e-commerce law is conducive to other members of the international community making and standardizing their legislation on e-commerce，” Zhou said. “Since the Internet has no borders， many foreign industries have established a close relationship with Chinas online marketplaces in the development of crossborder e-commerce. The law will address the concerns of overseas trademark holders wondering whether their [intellectual property] rights will be effectively protected in the Chinese market.”

The international community will also be keenly watching how the law helps the development of Chinas e-commerce， which is of such a huge scale， he added.

Profound meaning

The new law maps out policies such as encouraging integration between e-commerce and other industries. It supports cross-border e-commerce platforms to provide services like warehousing， customs clearance and quarantine inspection.

According to Zhou， the law lays the foundation for the innovative development of e-commerce.

Another highlight of the law is to harness e-commerces advantages in rural vitalization to ensure targeted poverty alleviation.

According to a report by the Ministry of Commerce， in 2017， rural online retail sales reached 1.2 trillion yuan （$181.7 billion）， increasing 39.1 percent year on year. The value of goods cleared through customs under the mode of cross-border e-commerce totaled 90.24 billion yuan （$13.2 billion）， up 80.6 percent year on year， showing how ecommerce has created new business models for economic development in rural areas.

Technologies such as big data， cloud computing， artificial intelligence and virtual reality have contributed to the formation of new business and marketing models， which have created more possibilities for economic development. However， while bringing opportunities for the new economy， technology has also added challenges and problems， creating a need for a comprehensive ecommerce law.

The law， for example， specifies e-commerce platforms obligations to consumers. There are general obligations such as the principles of equality， fairness and honesty， and specific obligations on information disclosure， advertising， tie-in sale notifi cations， deposit refunds and privacy protection.

Li Cheng， a friend of Li Zhi， failed to get back his deposit from a car-sharing company called TOGO. He said he had to register with TOGO and pay 1，500 yuan （$219） as a deposit before he could check out the availability of TOGOs shared cars. However， after he registered and paid， he could not find a single available car. He applied for a refund on December 9， 2018， but has not received a response yet.

The law has specifi c provisions for deposit refunds， stipulating that service providers should specify the refunding process and return the deposit in a timely manner once consumers request it.

“The stipulations are essential to safeguarding the rights and interests of consumers in ecommerce，” Zhou said.

The law also clarifies mobile payment service providers obligations to address payment errors and compensate consumers if the latter incurs any loss. In addition， ecommerce platform operators are prohibited from randomly deleting negative reviews about their products and services.

Ecological progress occupies a place in the law as well. It details e-commerce platforms obligations on environment-friendly packaging and logistics. According to Zhou， they could also play a significant role in assisting supervision of registered vendors and promoting intellectual property rights protection.

“As for the value of the law， we cant assess it on the basis of short-term effects. We need time to observe，” Zhou said. But at least Li Cheng can expect to have his 1，500-yuan deposit fi nally refunded.