China Insight - Consumer Products

Can a buyer return a product they have bought simply because they do not like it, not because it is defective, and receive a full refund of the purchase price? In the European Union, consumers are entitled to do so with long-distance sales. In China, to date, they are not, even though in practice many retailers offer this service for goodwill reasons.

A new Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests (“CPL”) will change this and certain other aspects of China’s consumer business. The current CPL has been in effect for 20 years without modifications. On 15 March 2014, a revised version of the CPL will finally come into force, as announced by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on 25 October 2013. Before finalising the new CPL, the NPC had released two draft versions of the new CPL to solicit public comment, the first in May 2013 (“First Draft”) and the second in September 2013 (“Second Draft”).

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