China: State Administration for Market Regulation closes consultation on draft guidelines on compliance of charging behaviour of online trading platforms

On 3 June 2025, the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) closes its public consultation on the Guidelines on Compliance of Charging Behaviour of Online Trading Platforms (Draft for Comments). The consultation sought feedback on the draft aimed at regulating platform charging practices, protecting the rights of platform-based operators, and promoting the healthy development of the platform economy. According to SAMR, the draft will be revised based on submitted feedback and implemented as soon as possible. The draft contains 28 articles establishing principles of fairness, legality and honesty for platform charges, measures to reduce burdens on merchants, internal compliance requirements for platforms, prohibitions against 8 categories of unreasonable charging behaviour, and strengthened supervision and enforcement mechanisms.