Consumer protection must be more than just day in spotlight

March 15 is Consumer Rights Protection Day, and on Saturday China Media Group broadcast its annual gala exposing a series of practices infringing on consumer rights.

Following the CMG report, market regulatory authorities in multiple regions launched overnight enforcement actions. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology also promptly organized investigations into the implicated entities by communications administrations in related places.

Consumer rights protection is not only the foundation for maintaining fair market competition but also a key factor in stimulating consumption potential and promoting the growth of domestic demand.

On March 13, the China Consumers Association released the 2024 consumer satisfaction evaluation report for 100 cities, with an overall score of 80.36, indicating a generally good level of satisfaction. High consumer satisfaction has directly contributed to the recovery of the consumer market, with total retail sales of consumer goods reaching 47.78 trillion yuan ($6.6 trillion) in 2024, a year-on-year increase of 3.5 percent. These findings demonstrate a positive correlation between consumer rights protection and consumers' willingness to spend.

Domestic demand is a crucial engine for economic growth, and consumer rights protection is a key factor in unlocking this potential. By improving consumer rights protection mechanisms, consumers' willingness to spend can be effectively enhanced and consumption upgrading promoted to drive economic growth.

According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, in 2022, final consumption expenditure contributed 44.5 percent to GDP growth, driving a 2.2 percentage point increase in GDP. This indicates that consumption has become a primary driver of economic growth.

However, as the CMG gala pointed out, infringements on consumer rights do not occur only on March 15, and the crackdown on such violations should not begin only after the CMG reports.

Consumer rights protection should be a continuous effort, not just reliant on an annual gala that names and shames. The channels for reporting and seeking redress should be streamlined, and punitive compensation clauses for offending businesses should be strengthened to deter them from infringing on consumer rights for illegal gains.