The People's Republic of China is one of the markets with the highest growth rates in online trading. Although Chinese consumers benefit from the price transparency and the convenience of ordering via the internet, they are often deceived or cheated with contracts breached despite payment, other goods sent as ordered, and if the ordered product breaks, warranty claims are often ignored.
Together with the Chinese project partners from the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC), GIZ identified the need for the introduction of an e-commerce label for trusted online stores as a key aspect to responding to the shortcomings in online trading in China.
Together with Prof Dr Hans-W. Micklitz (European University Institute) and Prof Dr Gerald Spindler (University of Göttingen), ConPolicy advised the Chinese government in whether or not to introduce an e-commerce label, and if so, how should it appear.
For this, ConPolicy conducted a fact finding mission and a project appraisal in China and developed, in collaboration with the other project partners, a proposal for a labeling scheme.
This project was based in part on the preliminary work of an earlier project, in which a comparative study between China and Germany, as well as the European Union, was conducted concerning issues of e-commerce in the years 2010 and 2011.
This study was published by C.H. Beck München/Hart Oxford/Nomos Baden-Baden and can be found here.
