The State Administration for Market Regulation ("SAMR") has recently issued the Interim Measures for Disposition of Complaints and Reports Concerning Market Regulation (Draft for Comment) (the "Draft for Comment") to seek public comments once again. Public consultation has ended.

The Draft for Comment proposes that market regulators shall ramp up their efforts to build a consumption credit system, urge business operators to conduct business in good faith and according to law, instruct consumers to defend their rights in a legal and reasonable manner, and impose credit punishment against those discreditable behaviors, such as infringement of consumers' rights and interests and malicious submission of complaints or reports. Meanwhile, the Draft for Comment expressly states that complaints lodged against e-commerce platform operators, and e-commerce business operators that sell products or offer services through their self-developed websites or other online services, will be dealt with by the county-level market regulators of the places where their respective domicile is located, while complaints made against business operators on the aforesaid e-commerce platforms will be processed by the county-level market regulators of their actual places of business. Furthermore, the Draft for Comment provides that a market regulator shall make a decision on whether to accept or dismiss a complaint it has received, within seven working days from the date it receives the complaint, and also inform the complainant of its decision.

(Source:State Administration for Market Regulation)