China e-commerce hub Zhejiang issues live-streaming quality control guidelines amid consumer rights backlash
- The guidelines were released to ‘reduce the risks of live-stream e-commerce sourcing’ and to improve general industry standards
- Regional governments and business associations have had to deal with rising complaints about false advertising, poor product quality
Chinese e-commerce hub Zhejiang has released guidelines for live-streamers to further tighten screening of suppliers and products sold via the popular sales channel, amid a government crackdown on faulty goods and tax evasion.
The guidelines were released on Monday to “reduce the risks of live-stream e-commerce sourcing in general and to improve standards across the entire industry,” the Zhejiang Daily reported, citing the Zhejiang E-Commerce Association.
According to the new guidelines, live-stream companies should be equipped with dedicated quality management personnel, who are expected to review supplier qualifications, product qualifications and product samples, with an additional review before live-streams.
The development comes after Beijing vowed to increase scrutiny of consumer rights abuses in the live-streaming industry, which surged amid the pandemic as more people moved from offline to online shopping.
The market value of live-stream e-commerce more than doubled in size to 961 billion yuan (US$151 billion) in 2020, according to iiMedia Research, and it is expected to grow to 1.65 trillion yuan in 2023.