Retail giants ask govt to tighten rules on online retailers

The heads of Chinese retail giants called on Monday for tighter regulation on online retailers.

"Faced with the rapid development of online retail, industry supervision and tax regulations are still lagging behind, which has a negative impact on the retail industry as a whole," according to Zhang Jindong, chairman of Suning Commerce Group Co Ltd, China's largest electric appliances retailer by sales, and Wang Tian, chairman of the Hunan-based Better-Life Commercial Chain Share Co Ltd.

Wang, a member of the Chinese National People's Congress, said at a press conference with the China Chain Store & Franchise Association that most online retailers do not pay value-added tax and other taxes, so online products can be cheaper, which is not fair for traditional retailers.

Zhang, a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference National Committee, added that in addition to tax evasion, online retailers still have a lot of issues, which need to be regulated by the government, such as the sale of fake goods.

Last year, Suning's sales revenue hit 18 billion yuan ($2.9 billion), up 211 percent year-on-year. Sales of the company's e-commerce unit reached 1.5 billion yuan in 2012, while sales at Redbaby — the company’s online platform for baby and pregnant women's products — reached 1.62 billion yuan last year.

Better-Life posted 13 billion yuan in annual sales last year, and owns 289 outlets, including, shopping malls and supermarkets, in Hunan and Jiangxi provinces.