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E-commerce livesreamer Huang Wei, also known as Viya, speaks during the Boao Forum for Asia in south China’s Hainan province, in April 2021. Photo: AFP
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China e-commerce hub Zhejiang issues live-streaming quality control guidelines amid consumer rights backlash

  • The guidelines were released to ‘reduce the risks of live-stream e-commerce sourcing’ and to improve general industry standards
  • Regional governments and business associations have had to deal with rising complaints about false advertising, poor product quality
E-commerce
Yaling Jiang
Yaling Jiangin Shanghai
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Chinese e-commerce hub Zhejiang has released guidelines for live-streamers to further tighten screening of suppliers and products sold via the popular sales channel, amid a government crackdown on faulty goods and tax evasion.

The guidelines were released on Monday to “reduce the risks of live-stream e-commerce sourcing in general and to improve standards across the entire industry,” the Zhejiang Daily reported, citing the Zhejiang E-Commerce Association.

According to the new guidelines, live-stream companies should be equipped with dedicated quality management personnel, who are expected to review supplier qualifications, product qualifications and product samples, with an additional review before live-streams.

The development comes after Beijing vowed to increase scrutiny of consumer rights abuses in the live-streaming industry, which surged amid the pandemic as more people moved from offline to online shopping.

China’s internet watchdog to target short videos, live streaming

The market value of live-stream e-commerce more than doubled in size to 961 billion yuan (US$151 billion) in 2020, according to iiMedia Research, and it is expected to grow to 1.65 trillion yuan in 2023.

So far, Alibaba Group Holding’s Taobao, TikTok’s domestic sister app Douyin, short-video platform Kuaishou and lifestyle platform Xiaohongshu all are players in the sector, while Tencent Holdings’ WeChat video feature Channels is looking to tap more revenue in the field. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.

China’s Ministry of Commerce last August solicited public opinion on the country’s first management and service guidelines for live-streaming e-commerce platforms, which also includes a section on product quality control. It is not known when the national guidelines will be officially released.

Meanwhile, regional governments and business associations have had to deal with rising consumer complaints about false advertising, poor product quality and deficient after-sales service in the industry.

During the last Singles’ Day shopping festival, the Zhejiang Consumer Council found that the defect rate among 80 samples bought via 17 top live-streamers, including so-called Lipstick King Li Jiaqi, was 36.25 per cent. Elsewhere in Guangzhou, Xinba, one of the biggest influencers on Chinese streaming platform Kuaishou, was fined by the local market watchdog in late 2020 for promoting fake bird’s nest.

China’s 315 Gala puts consumer spotlight on live-streaming abuses

“Live-streaming e-commerce has a low entry threshold with various backgrounds for livestreamers, as such the industry has become a hot target for consumer complaints,” Han Liangchen, vice-chairman of the Media Shopping Professional Committee of the China Chamber of Commerce, told China Financial News last November.

As China’s pre-eminent e-commerce hub, Zhejiang has taken the lead in law making for the sector. As early as November 2020, the Zhejiang E-Commerce Association set up guidelines to identify the roles of stakeholders in live-stream e-commerce. Last September, the provincial E-Commerce Promotion Centre published guidelines for live-stream bases, which pools resources for live-stream related businesses.

Monday’s guidelines also propose that relevant companies set up record-keeping systems for due diligence processes on products for future reference.

In addition to product quality, China has also clarified some grey areas and enforced stricter taxation rules on the income of live-streamers. The end of 2021 saw two top Hangzhou-based livestreamers – Viya and Xueli Cherie – effectively ‘cancelled’ and fined millions of yuan for tax avoidance. Last month, Kuaishou live-streamer Ping Rong was slapped with a US$10 million fine by authorities in southern Guangdong province for tax irregularities.
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