State Administration for Industry and Commerce of the People’s Republic of China (SAIC) releases Interim Measures for the Implementation of a 7-Day Return Policy for Online Shopping on January 6, 2017. It kicked in starting March 15, 2017. The measures include home appliances for the first time.
The 7-day return policy allows consumers to return merchandise without providing a reason within seven days after receiving an item, provided the quality, functions, components and tags remain intact. According to the policy, unpacking the goods to examine them and reasonable tests to ascertain the quality and function are considered legitimate uses and will not compromise the intactness. The policy applies if the goods are still able to be resold.
Previously, only several e-commerce platforms apply a 7-day return policy to home appliances, under stringent regulations made by individual e-commerce operators.