China: National People’s Congress adopted amendments to Anti-Unfair Competition Law including consumer protection regulation

On 27 June 2025, the Standing Committee of the Fourteenth National People’s Congress adopted the second revision to the Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People’s Republic of China at its Sixteenth Session, with the revised provisions entering into force on 15 October 2025. The revision reinforces consumer-protection safeguards by strengthening prohibitions against acts that mislead, deceive, or coerce consumers, and by explicitly defining unfair competition to include conduct that damages the legitimate rights and interests of consumers. Under Article 9, operators are prohibited from making false or misleading commercial advertisements regarding product performance, function, quality, sales status, or user evaluations, or from assisting others through fabricated transactions or false reviews. Article 11 prohibits deceptive prize-based sales practices, including fraudulent schemes or unclear redemption conditions that mislead consumers. Article 13 restricts the use of data, algorithms, technology, or platform rules to manipulate user choices or disrupt legitimate digital services, while Article 14 prevents platform operators from coercing sellers into below-cost pricing. Violations of these consumer-related provisions are subject to administrative orders to cease the conduct and fines ranging from CNY 50'000 to CNY 5 million under Articles 25 to 30, ensuring deterrence and regulatory consistency with broader consumer-protection objectives.