BEIJING, April 15 -- Chinese consumer complaints rose markedly in the first quarter as the country's new law on consumer rights and interests demands higher product quality and after-sale services.

Authorities dealt with 244,800 complaints from consumers nationwide in the Jan.-March period, up 20.85 percent year on year and marking the highest number from the same period in six years, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce said on Tuesday.

An official from the agency named Yang Hongcan attributed the surge to the new consumer rights law that took effect on March 15, which allows unconditional refunds within 7 days, higher compensation for buyers and heavy fines for substandard products.

According to the data, 91.03 percent of the complaints had been addressed by the end of March, with around 280 million yuan (45.48 million U.S. dollars) recouped for consumers.

Yang asked relevant administrations to intensify their efforts to protect consumers' legitimate rights and interests.

The authorities will pay more attention to home appliances, electronics, clothes, home furnishings and vehicles this year and crack down on deceptive contract loopholes in the banking and telecom sectors.

In 2013, the administration received more than one million complaints from consumers nationwide and recovered 1.34 billion yuan to repay their economic losses.