AmCham Shanghai these days published a piece of writing I wrote on China’s new E-Commerce Law, titled, Implications of China’s E-Commerce Law, and I urge you to read it. I changed into requested to write down this newsletter to explain the implications (therefore the title) and the practicalities of China’s new e-trade regulation. Actually, my law firm turned into asked to write this article. However, I then changed into tasked with this because I worked on a constant circulate of China E-trade subjects. After all, the new law got here out. The below borrows liberally from my article but summarizes it.
The article itself begins by defining the various phrases relevant to China’s new E-Commerce Law: “digital trade,” “platform operators,” “operators on e-trade systems,” and “e-commerce operators.” The E-Commerce Law defines “digital commerce” as enterprise sports related to selling goods and offerings through facts networks, including the Internet. It expressly does no longer include offerings that offer news, audio, and video applications, courses, cultural merchandise, and other content offerings provided through records networks and financial merchandise or economic services.
This submits will cognizance totally on e-commerce operators and the policies concerning e-trade platform operators most applicable to foreign corporations seeking to sell online in China. E-trade operators are defined as entities that sell goods or offerings via self-set-up websites or different community services (e.G. Social media websites). This definition is huge enough to cover maximum online sellers and promoting sports.
The Law requires nearly all e-commerce operators to check-in as marketplace entities. The Law, also calls for all e-commerce operators to report and pay taxes according to relevant legal guidelines and rules and do the following:
Display their business license, and any administrative allows, or offer an announcement making clear that they are not required to sign up. If an e-trade operator voluntarily discontinues its e-trade business, it has to notify the public by way of continuously showing at least 30 days earlier of the date on which it’ll cease undertaking its e-trade commercial enterprise;
Disclose facts regarding its goods or offerings in a comprehensive, authentic, correct, and timely manner a good way to protect the patron’s right to recognize and right to pick; Provide non-centered alternatives if it offers centered seek outcomes-based totally on the consumer’s pastimes, conduct or other private tendencies;
Not use any tie-in sale as a default option; Clearly set forth its system for refunding any deposits collected. This process can not set unreasonable refund necessities.
E-commerce platform operators are basically Alibaba, Taobao, and JD.Coms of the world. E-trade platform operators must construct complete structures for product and carrier evaluation, hold records of goods and offerings published and transacted on their platform, and set up truthful and obvious rules for their platform offerings and transactions. They also need to verify the identity, enterprise registration, tax registration, and any other required permit or licenses of any on-platform operator.
E-trade platform operators could be held accountable for goods and services bought on their platforms that do not follow China’s non-public protection or belongings safety requirements if the platform operator knew or need to have known approximately the failure to conform. E-commerce platform operators will also be responsible for harm due to considered one of its “patron health” carriers if it did not verify the providers’ qualifications.
E-trade platform operators additionally need to establish and put into effect intellectual assets guidelines and delete, block or disconnect hyperlinks and terminate transactions or services that infringe on an IP holder’s rights. In practice, the e-commerce platforms have already mounted guidelines for IP protection. For instance, if you discover a provider on Alibaba the use of your trademark or a copyrighted image without your authorization, you could file the infringement to Alibaba (at the side of evidence of your IP rights) and request Alibaba take down the infringing product web page or photograph and it normally will. Because China’s e-commerce systems operate particularly inside China, proof of IP rights in Chinese or certificates issued using Chinese authorities will generally cause quicker platform operator motion. See Getting Counterfeits off Alibaba: Anger is NOT a Strategy.
