New e-commerce rules expected to address market access and IP protection

    November 04, 2011 | BY

    Janice Qu

    Online businesses operating in a legal limbo

    Regulators are preparing new laws to better govern the online retail market.

    On October 24, the Ministry of Commerce (Mofcom) confirmed that it, along with other administrative authorities, is drafting regulations to set down online market rules and clarify the rights and responsibilities of all participants.

    A handful of policy documents relating to e-commerce have been issued by the State Council and Mofcom since 2005, however these were for guidance only and were not legally binding. The two most recent were Mofcom's Circular on the Regulation of Sales Promotion of Online Purchases (关于规范网络购物促销行为的通知), promulgated on January 5 2011, and its Guiding Opinion on the Development of Electronic Commerce in the 12th Five-year Plan Period (“十二五”电子商务发展指导意见), recently promulgated on October 18 2011.

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