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The
State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) plans to
step up random quality checks for goods bought online, according
to a statement on the regulator's website. The SAIC will take
into account consumer reports, and press for cooperation from
e-commerce platforms.
Companies like Alibaba, rival JD.com Inc and a plethora of
others have been called out by China's regulators for enabling
the sale of low-quality goods as well as counterfeit products.
But authorities are also keen to shake off China's broader
reputation as a market plagued by consumer safety scares and
rampant intellectual property infringement.
The issue has affected e-commerce leader Alibaba in particular.
China's biggest Internet company has feuded in the past with the
SAIC over the dubious nature of goods sold on the firm's
platforms, with Alibaba's shares tumbling after one unusually
public spat earlier this year.
Merchants found to be selling goods that don't meet the
regulator's standards will be made to stop sales, the SAIC said.
The e-commerce platforms on which they operate will also bear
responsibility for removing the products, it said.
Platforms that don't cooperate will have the matter referred to
their local regulator, according to the SAIC.
"Anything that protects Chinese consumers is good news," said a
Beijing-based spokesman for JD.com, the country's second-biggest
e-commerce firm.
An Alibaba spokeswoman said the company welcomes "any
regulations that promote the healthy development of e-commerce
in China."
Earlier this month, China's cabinet said it planned to eradicate
intellectual property rights infringement on the Internet within
three years.
(Reporting by Paul Carsten; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)
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