State Poised to Target Fake Goods, Poor Service

Industry and commerce administrative departments across the country filed more than 190,000 cases of consumer complaints from January to June, said an official with the State Administration of Industry and Commerce, as is reported by China Daily.

The administration began collecting data on complaints only this year, said Liu Xiaoping, deputy director of the Department of Consumer Rights Protection of the administration.

Product complaints amounted to 70 per cent and service complaints made up the remaining 30 per cent.

Some 88 per cent of the complaints have been successfully handled, helping consumers recover 534 million yuan (US$64.3 million) in losses.

Administrative departments have cracked down on approximately 140,000 cases involving production or sales of fake and poor quality products.

Inferior auto parts, chemical fertilizers and seeds top the list of shoddy products.

"Bad and fake seeds, inferior chemical fertilizers and farm equipment are the biggest threats to rural consumers' interests and safety," Liu said. "In some cases, farmers' hopes for a harvest have been crushed."

The administration also conducted a survey focused on urban consumer rights protection, covering 60 cities across the nation.

Among the 12,000 cases of fake and shoddy products, 50.9 per cent were produced by private businesses, 6.1 per cent by State-owned enterprises and 1.3 per cent by overseas-funded enterprises, the survey shows.

During the six-month period, more than 93,000 complaints from consumers in the 60 cities were filed.

The survey shows urban complaints against services hit 46 per cent and the those against products amounted to 54 per cent.

"The figure indicates that urban residents have an increasing awareness of self-protection compared to their rural counterparts who showed little concern about services," Liu said.

Gripes about telecommunication services, restaurants, laundries and beauty salons rank at the top of the service complaints list.

The rise of service complaints can be attributed to the rise of service consumption, such as travel and household services, Liu said.

With the help of a consumer complaints hotline which was launched by the administration on March 15, 1999 - International Consumers' Rights Day - consumers in any area of the country can submit their complaints by dialing 12351, Liu said.

People's Daily Online --- http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/