"The law itself is strong, but it is not at present effectively enforced," said Han Huasheng, vice-director of the Division of Complaints and Legal Affairs of the China Consumers' Association.

The law, which was endorsed in October 1993 and took effect in January 1994, offers guidelines, and local regulations supporting the law have provided specifics on how to protect consumers, Han said.

Han added that all provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities on the Chinese mainland have worked out their own rules on how to implement the law.

But he said most consumers still find it difficult to solve their disputes with sellers in court, though the law stipulates that the courts should take measures to make it easy for consumers to initiate actions when they feel they have been mistreated.

The normal court proceedings are too lengthy and complicated for ordinary consumers who usually have small claims.

He said most of the cases involving consumers' rights should be heard under summary proceedings, a simplified trial procedure.

The courts should also accept group actions, the most effective way in which consumers' rights can be protected in court, said Wang Chuming, a Beijing lawyer, who complained that the law is not practical in some cases.

"The sellers and producers, especially big businesses, usually do not care about cases raised by individual consumers. But they will have to take an action much more seriously when it is initiated by a group, as it may lead to huge compensation payments," Wang said.

China's Civil Procedure Law has a stipulation on representative action, but it is rarely used in cases involving consumers' rights. Wang said the courts will have no excuse to dismiss such trials if it is clearly written into the law on the protection of consumers' rights.

He further suggested that the law should introduce a recall system, both voluntary and government-imposed, to protect consumers from products that pose potential threats.

He Shan, a prominent civil law scholar who was involved in drafting the law, agreed that the recall system is good because it will offer consumers more comprehensive protection.

Yet he said the law is now functioning well and will not be revised in the near future.

The debate on whether the law should protect buyers who knowingly buy fake products and later sue the sellers for punitive compensation has always been highlighted in discussions on the national consumer-protection law.

A senior national legislative official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the law was not designed to protect these buyers.

The law says that buyers of fake goods or services should be compensated at twice the retail value of the goods or services.

The official said this stipulation was based on the knowledge that consumers are usually in an unadvantageous position in purchase transactions.

(China Daily July 30, 2002)