What is the legal basis for claiming liability according to China's product liability law?
With more and more foreign products on sale in China the potential for claims based on product defects increases. Now that there is a legal basis to bring claims, Chinese consumers make a growing number of claims against domestic retailers and manufacturers. Already since some time, claims between foreign sellers and Chinese buyers are a business routine. The PRC Product Liability Law provides the following avenues: 1. Liability by contract, where the foreign seller and Chinese buyer can set out rights and obligations and apportion the liability for claims between them. The sellers obligations do not extend to persons who are not parties to the contract. 2. Liability in tort, where a person who suffers personal injury or damage to property due to defects of a product may sue the manufacturer or seller of the product. 3. Administrative liability imposed by the State Technological Supervision Bureau and the State Administrations of Industry and Commerce, who have jurisdiction to protect the public from defective products. Business may be ordered to cease sale, repair the goods; income may be confiscated and the business license may be revoked.
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