China’s E-Commerce Law Amendment: Adapting to the AI-Driven Platform Economy

China’s proposed amendment to the E-Commerce Law marks an important step in modernizing the legal framework for the digital economy. Since the law entered into force in 2019, China’s e-commerce ecosystem has evolved significantly, with novel business models such as livestreaming commerce, social commerce, content-driven sales, short video apps, and cross-border digital platforms emerging. This has transformed how goods and services are marketed and sold. In this context, the draft amendment seeks to address these developments while balancing innovation, consumer protection, fair competition, and market governance, with a particular focus on platform liability and the role of e-commerce in cross-border contexts. INTA submitted comments on the draft amendment to the E-Commerce Law earlier this month. 

As noted in the comments, one of the most significant changes in the draft amendment is the expansion of its regulatory scope, from traditionally e-commerce platforms and merchants operating within them to the increasingly interconnected nature of digital commerce, where social media platforms, livestreaming channels, recommendation algorithms, and other emerging digital services are involved. With the continued expansion of social media apps and platforms that have integrated e-commerce capabilities, INTA welcomes this broader approach and, specifically, the draft’s explicit inclusion of social media, livestreaming, and content-commerce platforms under the E-Commerce Law. This is particularly important given existing structural gaps, namely no real-time takedown channel, no workable process to notarize a test buy, and no searchable archive of livestream content.  

Another important area of change lies in the strengthened platform responsibilities, with the draft setting forth the principle that platform liability should match the type of services provided. Platforms are expected to take greater responsibility for preventing illicit trade, improving transparency, and addressing any harm occurring on their services, which reflects a broader shift toward platform accountability and governance rather than relying solely on reactive enforcement after problems arise. INTA supports the direction of the draft in increasing penalties in the fight against online counterfeiting and would welcome clarification of how the layered approach of regulation and penalties would correspond to the different services platforms perform. 

The emphasis on coordinated regulation among enforcement authorities is worth noting in the draft amendment. This is a response to the fact that many platforms today operate across multiple sectors, combine online and offline business models, and increasingly operate in the global marketplace. This integrated approach, aimed at improving supervisory consistency and regulatory efficiency, would help enable closer cooperation between stakeholders, including law enforcement, e-marketplace operators, rights owners, and legitimate sellers.  

The draft amendment offers a good opportunity to further strengthen online protection, to respond to industry concerns regarding repeat infringers, to address difficulties in obtaining information necessary for enforcement and seller verification, and to develop more effective notice and takedown procedures.  

Overall, the draft amendment signals China’s intent to move beyond regulating online transactions alone and toward a more comprehensive governance framework for the platform economy in the digital era. As e-commerce continues to evolve, the success of the amended law will depend on its ability to support innovation while maintaining consumer trust, fair competition, and effective protection of legitimate rights and interests.  

For more information, read INTA’s comments on the draft amendment to the E-Commerce Law. 

INTA’s China Representative Office, based in Beijing, represents the Association’s members in China. Working in collaboration with staff at INTA’s headquarters in New York City, the China Representative Office leads the Association’s policy, membership, marketing, and communications initiatives in this jurisdiction. To learn more about INTA’s activities in China, please contact INTA Chief Representative for China, Monica Su, and follow us on WeChat.

Although every effort has been made to verify the accuracy of this article, readers are urged to check independently on matters of specific concern or interest.  

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