Foreign Business and Consumer Rights: A Survey of Consumer Protection Law in China

Abstract

FOREIGN BUSINESS AND CONSUMER RIGHTS: A SURVEY OF CONSUMER PROTECTION LAW IN CHINA Mark Williams* INTRODUCTION The accepted wisdom of the economic titans of the west is that China is a land of opportunity. 1 Untold millions of consum- ers are apparently eagerly waiting for the benefits of Western consumer-oriented capitalism. The oft-repeated nostrum appears to be that any self-respecting multi-national cannot afford to ig- nore the huge market 2 and the profit bonanza that surely will be the prize of the bold entrepreneur who commits early to the Chi- nese market. Does this view represent reality or do those who have committed huge sums to unprofitable joint venture enter- prises need to perpetuate such a myth to reassure anxious share- holders? The answer is yet to be determined. However, the imminent entry of China into the World Trade Organization (WTO) will inevitably lead to increased opening of the domestic market to imports and goods and services produced locally by foreign enterprises and so the potential opportunities for foreign firms' interaction with the Chinese market will un- doubtedly increase. The reduction of tariffs, most favored nation status and national treatment of foreign goods as promised by the trade agreements already signed with the United States of * Assistant Professor of Law, Hong Kong Polytechnic University 1. A recent survey of the CEO's/CFO's of 1000 global companies found that China was the second most favoured recipient of foreign direct investment after the United States of America. The reasons for this confidence in the Chinese market place resulted from three factors - size of the potential market and a growing mid- dle class , entry by China into the World Trade Organization and normalization of China's policy behaviour . See A. T. Kearney, Inc., FDI Confidence Index (Feb., 2001), at http://www.atkearney.com. 2. China has a population of over 1.2 billion people. See 2000 CHINA STAT. Y.B. (China Statistics Press, Beijing).