Many cross-border e-commerce sellers have opened their deals early for Black Friday this year as the newly passed e-commerce law goes into effect next year.
China's cross-border e-commerce trade saw its turnover rise 80.6 percent from 2016 to 90.24 billion yuan (around 13 billion U.S. dollars) last year.
However, the official data shows a sharp rise in complaints related to cross-border e-commerce. Most complaints involve items like dairy products, diapers, healthcare, and cosmetic products.
The law, which is set to "protect legal rights and interests of all parties" and "maintain the market order," requires all e-commerce operators to fulfill their obligation to protect consumers' rights and interests as well as personal information, intellectual property rights (IPR), cyberspace security and environment.
Shopping sites like Ymatou and Red have rolled out promotions a week earlier with bumper discounts, as this is the last Black Friday before the new law comes into force.
Foreign e-commerce giants are also trying hard to mine China's retail potential. Amazon, for the first time, will add Chinese customers to its global discount deals, offering over 100,000 products from Thursday to Saturday.
But some say that the new law will increase the cost of daigou. A daigou is usually an individual who shops foreign products overseas for consumers on the Chinese mainland, usually for a fee. This model will soon come under stricter regulation.
"The new law clarifies the responsibilities of e-commerce platforms, and also says that small and individual sellers will not get away with selling fake or bad-quality goods. For some e-commerce sites that rely on these individuals, the new law will be a turning point to change their business model," said Yu Yongyuan, CMO of Feiniao Group.
