The Product Quality Law was promulgated in 1993, and amended in 2000, 2009 and 2018 respectively. The latest revision entered into force on December 29, 2018.

There are 74 articles in total.

The key points are as follows:

1.The law applies to all production and marketing activities within the territory of China.(Article 2)

2.Products refer to products processed and manufactured for the purpose of marketing.(Article 3)

3.The market regulatory authorities of the State Council are responsible for the supervision and administration of the quality of products of the whole country.(Article 8)

4.Producers shall be responsible for the quality of products they produce. Sellers shall adopt measures to maintain the quality of products for sale. (Article 26 and 34)

5.Sellers shall be responsible for repair, replacement or return and compensate for the damages done to end-users or consumers if one of the following cases occurs:

(1) Products do not have the property for use it should have and there is no advance explanations;

(2) The quality of products does not conform to the standards or to the standards specified in the packages;

(3) The quality of products does not tally with the quality specified in the instruction for use or with the quality of samples provided.

6.If damages are done to the person or properties of others due to the defects of products, the victims may claim for compensation either from the producers or sellers. If the responsibility rests with the producers and the compensation is paid by the sellers, the sellers have the right to recover their losses from the producers. If the responsibility rests with the sellers and the compensation is paid by the producers, the producers have the right to recover their losses.(Article 43)

7.The validity period for claiming for compensation for damages due to defects of products is two years, starting from the date when the parties concerned is notified or should have known the matter.