Zhang Mao: Underline Deepening Rights Protection Mechanism Reform, Enhancing Duty Performance Capacity and Construction a Social-involvement Governance Platform
—— 2016-03-14 ——

On January 20, CCA convened the first meeting of its Fifth Council in Beijing. Zhang Mao, Director-General of State Administration of Industry and Commerce (SAIC) and Executive Vice President of the Fifth Council of China Consumers Association (CCA), chaired the meeting and delivered a report to the council. Zhang Mao reviewed China’s achievements in the protection of consumers’ rights in recent years. He pointed out the remarkable achievements made by the previous council in various works, such as the new achievements in resolving consumption disputes by reinforcing consumers’ rights protection as the key, new effects in guiding consumption education, new functions in promoting legal system construction, new results in playing its role in social supervision and new progress in perfecting the rights protection mechanism.

Zhang Mao highlighted that CAA should perform its duties in accordance with the law from three aspects and strive to create a new prospect for the protection of consumers’ rights. First, the CCA should always represent the interests of consumers and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of consumers in accordance with the law. CCA should work harder to strengthen its guidance in consumption education and try to realize beforehand protection of consumers’ rights. CCA should also do a good job in mediating and handling consumer disputes and practically resolve consumption contradictions. CCA should innovate its working mode and improve the effect of works in protecting consumers’ rights. Second, CCA should seek to play its role as a bridge and bond and practically serve as a good consultant to government. CCA should firmly center on serving the overall development of the society and economy and actively promote the improvement of consumption policies. CCA should closely coordinate relevant governmental departments to intensify social supervision. Third, CCA should serve as a platform and work to boost a shared social governance of consumers’ rights protection. CCA should facilitate all social forces to jointly protect the legitimate rights and interests of consumers and build an environment that can help the platform play its part in shared social governance and consumers’ rights protection.

Zhang Mao stressed that consumer associations at all levels should reinforce “the construction of four modernizations” so as to provide a solid guarantee for duty performance. Consumer associations should create a professional team, improve professional proficiency and public relations handling capacity, and strengthen the utilization of social professional resources, the integration of administrative resources for the protection of consumers’ rights and the construction of a volunteer group of industry experts. Consumer associations should build a networked organization, improve their cohesion, pay attention to their organizational construction and vigorously set up a social shared governance platform for the protection of consumers’ rights. Consumer associations should intensify information support, reinforce the construction of complaint information foundation, advance the establishment of an integrated platform of complaint information and strengthen a comprehensive utilization of complaint information. Consumer associations should improve their international perspective, deepen the mechanism for international and regional cooperation in protecting consumers’ rights and positively take part in international communication. Consumer associations should expand their influence on consumers’ rights protection, enhance the establishment of foreign-related complaint window and properly handle consumption disputes concerning foreign affairs or foreign nationals.

Zhang Mao finally pointed out that 2015 is the year for consumer associations of different areas to organize its general election, and industry and commerce organs at all levels should actively coordinate the parties concerned to well implement the elections, step up efforts in administrative law enforcement and practically perform their functions in protecting consumers’ rights.