China’s first e-commerce law has been passed by the legislative body, offering detailed stipulations for future operators, the People’s Daily reported.
For goods or services that are related to the lives and health of consumers, e-commerce platforms will bear corresponding responsibilities if they fail to examine the qualification of vendors on their platform, or fulfill the security guarantee obligations for consumers.
If e-commerce platform fails to take necessary measures to deal with the infringement of the legitimate rights and interests of consumers, they shall be ordered to suspend business for rectification and be imposed a fine of not less than 500,000 yuan and not more than 2 million yuan.
Meanwhile, micro vendors who sell on social media with no physical store and business license, without the engagement of a third-party trading platform, will also be recognized as e-commerce operators and the new rules will apply.
The new law will take effect from January 1 next year.