SHENZHEN will probably become the first city in China to implement policies to regulate online transactions following a surge in Internet shopping.

This was announced by Shen Qingsan, head of the Shenzhen Municipal Market Supervision Administration at a press conference yesterday for World Consumer Rights Day on March 15.

"Shenzhen is a pioneer in electronic commerce, but its development now lags behind Beijing and Shanghai. A major problem that has restricted growth is the lack of supervision and administration of this industry," Shen said.

The administration and the Shenzhen Consumer Council had been working on the policies for months and hopefully new policies would be introduced during the month of activities to mark Consumers' Day, he said.

According to figures released by the Shenzhen Consumer Council in January, complaints about online shopping in the city had increased by 127.42 percent in 2009 compared with the previous year. Complaints involved poor product quality and misleading publicity. No policies to control e-commerce have been implemented in China because of a lack of experience in dealing with this emerging industry.

Meanwhile, the city initiated a series of activities yesterday for Consumers' Day. Among these will be an inquiry and complaints meeting to be attended by nearly 1,000 representatives of government agencies, industry associations, enterprises and consumers.

Sessions will be conducted offering advice on company registration, patent and trademark application and food safety in the city's six districts and Guangming and Pingshan new zones.

To supervise consumer activities, the authorities and their counterparts in Dongguan and Huizhou will also distribute brochures to guide consumers in food, automobiles, mobile phones and interior decorating.

Lectures clarifying clauses in car insurance policies and online shopping contracts will be given to guide consumers and urge retailers to make necessary changes.

These will be the first World Consumer Rights Day activities to be conducted by the administration since it was inaugurated in September in the city's biggest administrative reform in its history. The administration combined the former administration of industry and commerce, quality and technology inspection bureau and intellectual property bureau.

Source:Shenzhen Daily