Chapter VI  Legal Liability

Article 74  Where an e-commerce operator fails to perform contractual obligations or otherwise breaches the contract, or cause damage to others, in selling goods or providing services, the e-commerce shall bear civil liability in accordance with law.  

Article 75  Where an e-commerce operator, in violation of Article 12 or 13 of this Law, engages in business operation without relevant administrative permit, or sells goods or provide services the trading of which is prohibited by laws or administrative regulations, or fails to perform the obligation of providing information as prescribed in Article 25 of this Law, or, in violation of Article 46 of this Law, trades by centralized bidding or by standardized contract, the e-commerce operator shall be punished in accordance with relevant laws and administrative regulations. 

Article 76  Where an e-commerce operator, in violation of this Law, commits any of the following acts, he shall be ordered by the department for market regulation to make correction within a specific time limit and may be fined not more than RMB 10,000 yuan; and the e-commerce platform operator involved shall be punished in accordance with the first paragraph of Article 81 of this Law:

(1) Failing to publish the information on his business license, the information relating to the administrative permit for business operation or the statements that he is not required to complete business registration, or failing to establish marks of the links to the aforesaid information, at prominent places on his homepage and primary webpages; 

(2) Failing to continuously display the information to the effect that he will terminate his e-commerce business at prominent places on his homepage and primary webpages; and

(3) Failing to expressly specify the methods and procedures for search, correction or deletion of user information or user deregistration, or placing unreasonable conditions for such search, correction or deletion of user information or user deregistration. 

Where an e-commerce platform operator fails to take necessary measures against on-platform business operators that violate the provisions of the preceding paragraph, the e-commerce platform operator shall be ordered by the department for market regulation to make correction within a specific time limit and may be fined not less than RMB 20,000 yuan but not more than RMB 100,000 yuan. 

Article 77  Where an e-commerce operator provides search results in violation of the first paragraph of Article 18 of this Law, or sells or provides tie-in goods or services in violation of Article 19 of this Law, the e-commerce operator shall be ordered by the department for market regulation to make correction within a specific time limit; the illegal gains, if any, shall be confiscated; and, in addition, the e-commerce operator may be fined not less than RMB 50,000 yuan but not more than RMB 200,000 yuan, or, if the circumstances are serious, not less than RMB 200,000 yuan but not more than RMB 500,000 yuan.

Article 78  Where an e-commerce operator, in violation of Article 21 of this Law, fails to expressly state to consumers the manner and procedure for the refund of deposits, places unreasonable conditions for the refund of the deposits, or fails to refund deposits in a timely manner, the e-commerce operator shall be ordered by the relevant competent authority to make correction within a specific time limit, and may be fined not less than RMB 50,000 yuan but not more than RMB 200,000 yuan, or, if the circumstances are serious, not less than RMB 200,000 yuan but not more than RMB 500,000 yuan.

Article 79  Where an e-commerce operator, in violation of the provisions on the protection of personal information prescribed in laws or administrative regulations, or fails to perform the obligation of ensuring cybersecurity provided for in Article 30 of this Law or in any relevant law or administrative regulation, the e-commerce regulator shall be punished pursuant to the Cybersecurity Law of the People's Republic of China and other laws and administrative regulations.

Article 80  Where an e-commerce platform operator commits any of the following acts, he shall be ordered by the relevant competent authority to make correction within a specific time limit. Where the e-commerce platform operator fails to do so within the prescribed time limit, he shall be fined not less than RMB 20,000 yuan but not more than RMB 100,000 yuan. Where the circumstances are serious, he shall be ordered by the aforesaid authority to suspend business for correction, and, in addition, be fined not less than RMB 100,000 yuan but not more than RMB 500,000 yuan: 

(1) Failing to perform the obligation of verification or registration as provided for in Article 27 of this Law;

(2) Failing to submit relevant information to the department for market regulation or tax department pursuant to Article 28 of this Law;

(3) Failing to, pursuant to Article 29 of this Law, take necessary measures against violations of law or report to the relevant competent authority; and

(4) Failing to perform the obligation of keeping the information on goods or services or transaction information as provided for in Article 31 of this Law. 

Where laws or administrative regulations provide otherwise for the punishment of any of the illegal acts prescribed in the preceding paragraph, relevant provisions of such laws or regulations shall apply.  

Article 81  Where an e-commerce platform operator, in violation of this Law, engages in any of the following acts, he shall be ordered by the department for market regulation to make correction within a specific time limit, and may be fined not less than RMB 20,000 yuan but not more than RMB 100,000 yuan, or, where the circumstances are serious, not less than RMB 100,000 yuan but not than RMB 500,000 yuan:  

 (1) Failing to continuously display platform service agreement or transaction rules or establish links to the aforesaid information, at prominent places on the homepage and primary webpages;

(2) Failing to publicly solicit comments on modifications to the transaction rules at prominent places on his homepage and primary webpages or publish in advance the modifications at the time as required by regulations; or preventing on-platform business operators from leaving; 

(3) Failing to distinguish, in a conspicuous manner, self-operated business from that of on-platform business operators; and   

(4) Failing to provide access for consumers to make comments on the goods sold or services provided on their platforms, or deleting consumer comments without permission. 

Where an e-commerce platform operator, in violation of Article 40 of this Law, fails to prominently mark with "advertisement" the goods or services ranked through price bidding, he shall be punished in accordance with the Advertisement Law of the People's Republic of China. 

Article 82  Where an e-commerce platform operator, in violation of Article 35 of this Law, places unreasonable restrictions or conditions on transactions between on-platform business operators on his platform or on the trading prices, or on the transactions carried out by his on-platform business operators with other business operators, or charges unreasonable fees on on-platform business operators, the e-commerce platform operator shall be ordered by the department for market regulation to make correction within a specific time limit, and may be fined not less than RMB 50,000 yuan but not more than RMB 500,000 yuan, or, where the circumstance are serious, not less than RMB 500,000 yuan but not more than RMB 2 million yuan.  

Article 83  Where an e-commerce platform operator, in violation of Article 38 of this Law, fails to take necessary measures against the infringement upon the lawful rights and interests of consumers by on-platform business operators, or perform the obligation of verifying the qualifications or licenses of on-platform business operators, or fulfill his duty of guaranteeing the safety of consumers, the e-commerce platform operator shall be ordered by the department for market regulation to make correction within a specific time limit, and may be fined not less than RMB 50,000 yuan but not more than RMB 500,000 yuan. Where the circumstances are serious, he shall be ordered to suspend business for correction, and, in addition, be fined not less than RMB 500,000 yuan but not more than RMB 2 million yuan. 

Article 84  Where an e-commerce platform operator, in violation of Article 42 or 45 of this Law, fails to take necessary measures, as required by law, against the infringement upon intellectual property rights by on-platform business operators, he shall be ordered by the relevant administrative department for intellectual property to make correction within a specific time limit. Where the e-commerce platform operator fails to make correction within the prescribed time limit, he shall be fined not less than RMB 50,000 yuan but not more than RMB 500,000 yuan, or, where the circumstances are serious, not less than RMB 500,000 yuan but not more than RMB 2 million yuan.  

Article 85  Where an e-commerce operator, in violation of this Law, sells such goods or provide such services as not meeting the requirements for guaranteeing personal and property safety, commits an act of unfair competition such as performing false or misleading commercial promotion, abuse his dominant market position, or commits an act of infringing upon intellectual property rights or consumer rights and interests, etc., the e-commerce operator shall be punished pursuant to the relevant laws. 

Article 86  Acts in violation of the provisions of this Law committed by an e-commerce operator shall be entered in his credit record in accordance with the relevant laws and administrative regulations, and such information shall be made public.    

Article 87  Where a staff member of the department responsible for e-commerce regulation neglects his duty, abuses his power, practices favoritism for personal gains, sells or illegally divulges or provides to others the personal information, privacy, or trade secrets learned in the course of performing his duty, the staff member in question shall be held legally liable in accordance with law. 

Article 88  Where an act in violation of this Law constitutes a violation of public security administration, the offender shall be given public security administration punishment in accordance with law. Where the violation constitutes a crime, the offender shall be investigated for criminal liability in accordance with law. 

Chapter VII  Supplementary Provisions

Article 89  This Law shall come into force as of January 1, 2019.

¹ Hereinafter referred to as "E-Commerce" in abbreviation. -Trans.