# consumer protection
Latest news and articles about consumer protection
Total: 16 articles found
Chinese Regulators Summon Six Travel Platforms Over Misleading Loan Sales, Seek Tighter Consumer Protections
China's financial regulators jointly summoned six travel platforms over problematic practices in selling loan products through partner lenders, demanding clearer disclosures, bans on misleading marketing, and better complaint handling. The move is part of a broader regulatory focus on risks from embedded finance and aims to protect consumers while forcing platforms and their lending partners to tighten compliance.
China’s Market Watchdog Summons Seven Tech Giants to Curb ‘Involution’ in Platform Promotions
China’s market regulator summoned seven leading platforms to demand stricter compliance with competition, pricing and consumer protection laws and to curb “involution” — cutthroat promotional tactics that distort markets. The meeting signals intensified oversight of everyday platform marketing as Beijing seeks to stabilise the platform economy while preserving innovation.
Pinduoduo Tightens Food-Safety Rules and Live-Stream Oversight to Keep Lunar New Year Supplies Flowing
Pinduoduo has launched a holiday‑period campaign combining subsidies for essential foods with stricter food‑safety and live‑stream governance. The platform has tightened seller licence checks, expanded AI‑enabled monitoring of advertising and images, mandated detailed permits for specific categories, and stepped up lab sampling and IP protections to reassure consumers during the Lunar New Year.
Shenzhen Moves to Quash Online Gold Scams — Bans Hype, Apps and Pre‑Pricing Schemes
Shenzhen has issued a public notice banning illegal gold pre‑pricing schemes, leveraged and deferred trades, misleading online marketing and the development or support of unlawful gold‑trading apps. The move targets tech‑enabled distribution channels and warns banks and payment firms to refuse service to illegal operators while pointing retail investors toward authorised gold ETFs, futures and physical purchases through accredited sellers.
Xiaomi Auto Backs Beijing’s Pricing Code — A Signal that China’s EV Market Must Compete on Quality, Not Discounts
Xiaomi Auto has publicly endorsed China’s new automotive pricing compliance guidelines, committing to transparent pricing, an end to price fraud and coordination with partners to enforce the rules. The move aligns Xiaomi with Beijing’s push to shift the auto industry away from discount‑led competition toward quality and technology‑driven value creation.
Beijing Summons 12 Travel Platforms Over Misleading Train‑ticket Practices — A Test of China’s Tech Oversight
Beijing’s market regulator held administrative talks with 12 major platforms over misleading practices in online railway‑ticket sales, demanding clearer pricing, the end of implied paid priorities, and fixes to deceptive add‑on products. The move underscores broader Chinese efforts to rein in opaque platform monetization and signals that repeat offenders face stricter enforcement rather than further admonitions.
China’s Huazhu Told to Reform Loyalty Terms after Beijing Flags Mandatory Arbitration Clause
Beijing’s consumer watchdog has ordered Huazhu’s membership-services operator to review and fix a clause that requires disputes to be arbitrated in Shanghai, saying it unlawfully restricts consumers' right to sue. The move highlights growing regulatory scrutiny of standard-form contract terms in China and poses compliance and reputational challenges for the country’s largest hotel group.
Priced to Prey: How Staged 'Auctions' Are Extracting Millions from China's Small-Time Collectors
Scammers posing as auction houses and foreign buyers are targeting ordinary Chinese collectors with high-pressure valuations and demands for seller-side guarantee deposits. They stage “private” or overseas sales, employ fake bidders, then declare lots unsold and withhold deposits under contractual pretexts. The fraud exploits information asymmetries in the antiques market, weak cross-border enforcement and social stigma that keeps victims silent.
Shanghai Lawmaker Urges Schools, Platforms and Courts to Close Gaps in AI Education, Data Governance and Credit Repair
At Shanghai's municipal meetings, CPPCC member Tong Lin called for reforms to AI education, platform data governance and credit restoration for bankrupt companies. He proposed a staged AI curriculum with an approved textbook list and education accounts for minors, an industry association to standardise data dispute resolution, and automated court data links to speed credit repair for entrepreneurs.
China’s “Snack Ambushers”: Mall Nut Shops Charge Premiums for Experience, Not Always Freshness
Popular mall-based nut chains in China have been selling ordinary snacks at premium prices by packaging them as high-end, freshly roasted products and leveraging mall footfall and influencer marketing. Rising customer complaints about high bills and questions about the authenticity of “same-day roasting” have slowed expansion and exposed risks to the brands’ pricing logic.
China Turns the Screws on Live‑Stream Commerce: Platforms to Bear Whole‑Chain Responsibility
China’s market regulator announced an escalation in live‑stream e‑commerce oversight, insisting platforms act as gatekeepers and promoting a ‘one case, three investigations’ enforcement model. The measures include tougher verification, a national platform standard, targeted inspections of counterfeit and deceptive practices, and new tools that can limit a streamer’s traffic or suspend broadcasts.
Tiny Fonts, Big Fees: How Mobile Apps Are Quietly Draining China’s Elderly of Pensions
A wave of mobile apps in China is using deceptive design and opaque billing to extract small, repeated payments from elderly users, often hiding the true price behind small, pale fonts, “free” insurance pitches and automatic subscription switches. Legal and platform gaps — including weak pre-listing reviews, disputed intermediary liability and limited refund pathways through app stores — make recovery difficult and keep these practices profitable.