Source: China Daily

China proposed amendments on 5 July 2026 to its e‑commerce law that would for the first time create a legal basis for reciprocal countermeasures against foreign entities imposing discriminatory restrictions on Chinese e‑commerce firms. The draft amendments were jointly released by the State Administration for Market Regulation and the Ministry of Commerce and represent the first major revision since the law took effect in 2019. A new countermeasure provision would allow authorities to investigate foreign entities under China's "unreliable entity list" and impose corresponding restrictions when they are deemed to harm Chinese companies' legitimate interests. Hong Yanqing, a professor at the Beijing Institute of Technology's School of Law, said the provision creates stronger countermeasures and establishes a clear legal entry point to address discriminatory practices across platforms, payments, logistics, data, cloud services, advertising, app distribution and supply‑chain compliance mechanisms.

Hong noted the proposal reflects a trend among major economies and cited the European Union's broad response measures across services trade, investment, financial services, government procurement, intellectual property and supply‑chain activities. The draft also strengthens domestic enforcement powers against platform operators by raising maximum fixed fines from 2 million yuan to 5 million yuan and allowing, for particularly serious offenses, fines up to 5 percent of a company's prior‑year revenue. Xue Jun, director of Peking University's e‑commerce law research center, said the revisions introduce more flexible enforcement options such as suspending new user registrations or halting specific business activities, rather than only ordering full suspension of operations. The draft updates the law to cover newer business models including live‑streaming platforms, social commerce and AI‑enabled e‑commerce services, and extends legal protections to gig workers such as food delivery riders and ride‑hailing drivers.