CHINA’S draft e-commerce law was submitted to the top legislature for a third reading Tuesday, further regulating online market order and protecting consumer rights.

The latest draft will be reviewed at a four-day bimonthly session of the National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, which runs from Tuesday to tomorrow.

“The draft law aims to further support and promote the development of e-commerce, regulate market order, and protect the legitimate rights and interests of all parties in e-commerce,” Cong Bin, from the NPC Constitution and Law Committee, read in a report to the lawmakers.

Cong pointed out that the draft law would focus on the obligations and liabilities of e-commerce operators, especially platform operators.

According to the latest draft, e-commerce operators, while pushing advertisements to consumers based on individual preferences, must also present other commercials not involved in the customers’ likes in order to respect and protect the rights and interests of consumers.

Having been reviewed in December 2016 and October 2017 by the NPC Standing Committee, the draft added that e-commerce operators must clearly point out tie-in sales, both products and services, to consumers, and cannot assume consent.

E-commerce operators with dominant market positions due to advantages in technology, number of users and capacity of industry control cannot exclude or restrict competition.

China is the world’s largest e-commerce market. In 2017, China’s e-commerce transactions totaled 29.16 trillion yuan (US$4.56 trillion), a year-on-year growth of 11.7 percent. In the same period, the country’s online retail sales reached 7.18 trillion yuan, up by 32.2 percent over the previous year.

(Xinhua)