THE owner of the Yuanwang Digital Mall in Huaqiangbei commercial area has been accused of bullying small retailers who rent shops in the mall to do business, oeeee.com reported yesterday.

The Yuanwang Digital Mall had once been the first choice for both buyers and sellers of consumer electronic products. However, a large number of retailers in the mall recently started relocating their stores, according to oeeee.com.

The Yuanwang mall owner was suspected of illegally withholding rental deposits, forcibly reclaiming or relocating shops and increasing rent at will, according to the report.

One retailer, surnamed Huang, said he had been renting a shop in the Yuanwang Digital Mall for 15 years, where he ran a convenience store, but the Yuanwang mall boss forcibly reclaimed the shop at the end of 2017 before the lease contract Huang had signed with the boss had expired.

The Yuanwang boss accused Huang of breaching the contract by not selling electronic products as stipulated in the contract, according to Huang.

However, Huang claimed that he and many other tenants in the Yuanwang mall were forced to sign the same contracts. Huang accused the boss of illegally withholding Huang’s 12,000-yuan (US$1,739) rental deposit, 3,000 yuan security deposit and six months’ rent.

Although Huang managed to get another shop in the mall to continue his business after negotiating with the boss, the location of the new shop Huang received from the boss was too remote to attract consumers, Huang said.

Huang said that at least 20 other shop tenants had similar experiences and some of them had no choice but to close their doors.

They have reported the situation to the police, Huang said. (Wang Jingli)