Aiming Higher: Chinese Businesses Advancing Consumer Rights

　　Beverly Kracher博士, 美國Creighton 大學商業倫理教授

　　Associate Professor of Business Ethics and Society

　　College of Business Administration， Creighton University

　　Abstract:

　　Since the Chinese economy underwent transition to a market economy in the late 1970s, it has become one of the largest economies in the world (Blyth, 2006). China Petroleum & Chemical, China Mobile, and Aluminum Corporation of China are just a few of the top 100 Chinese companies that populate the Chinese business landscape listed in global publications (Business Week, 2005).

　　Whether state-run or privately-held, the movement towards a developed market economy brings a host of stakeholder issues for Chinese businesses. The focus of this paper is one of those issues, namely, Chinese firms’ advancement of consumers’ rights.

　　Let us assume the definition of “consumer” as given in the Shanghai Municipal Rules on the Protection of Consumer Interest (2003) as “one who, for the need of personal consumption, purchases or uses goods, or receives services.” In addition, let us assume a common notion of rights for this discussion as “that to which one has a proper claim” (Angeles, 1981, p. 247).

　　Fundamentally, Chinese companies advance consumers’ rights when they create safe, well-made products and services. Alternatively, consumers’ rights are violated when products are unsafe, shoddy, or fake. In addition, consumers’ rights are violated through price fraud, insufficient product information disclosure, and monopolization (China Daily, 2002).

　　Consumer rights can be protected in a variety of ways. Education is needed to create consumer rights awareness, systems must be in place to handle complaints and violations, and the laws must be installed to punish consumer rights violators. But who must create these protections? There are at least two avenues.

　　However, this paper asserts that while strong government is important, it is the Chinese companies themselves that must take the leadership role in protecting consumer rights. For this reason it is helpful for them to watch and learn from other Chinese firms about how to behave towards consumers. This does not necessitate a downward spiral towards the negative, focusing on those Chinese firms that violate consumer rights (as posted on chinacsr.com). Rather, it is more practical and enlightening to seek out the positive actions that some Chinese firms have taken to advance consumer rights and to learn from them.

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