Better consumer protection

The second draft of amendments to the Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests was submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on Monday for review. Compared with the first draft, it offers better protection to consumers because of its harsher terms in their favor.

The latest draft requires business owners to pay compensation of up to three times the price of any substandard products or services sold to consumers, compared with the two times compensation ceiling proposed in the former draft.

The country's existing law on consumer rights, which was enacted in 1993, stipulates that companies should pay compensation equivalent to the price of any flawed products or services sold intentionally. This has been widely criticized as being too low to deter people from producing fake or shoddy goods. The meager compensation has also dampened consumers' enthusiasm to go through the necessary procedure to claim compensation.