China's State Administration for Market Regulation Photo: VCG

China's State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) on Saturday revealed a set of newly implemented compliance guidelines for online platform fees, aiming to further regulate how e-commerce platforms charge operators for commissions, service fees, memberships, and other costs such as technical support, marketing, and data services.

The guidelines, which the SAMR issued on Thursday, set out key principles for platform charges, calling for reduced burdens on merchants, stronger compliance, and more transparent fee practices, according to a post on the SAMR's official website on Saturday.

Platforms are required to take primary responsibility for compliance, establish dedicated teams, align internal policies with regulatory requirements, build mechanisms to identify and assess the risks of unfair charges, strengthen pre-approval procedures, and promote a culture of compliance through training, the SAMR said.

The guidelines require platforms to publicly disclose their fee structures, and display service agreements and transaction rules prominently on their homepage. Any changes to fee rules must undergo a public consultation process in accordance with the law. Platforms must also retain all historical versions of fee policies for at least three years prior to the effective date of any changes, according to the new guidelines.

The guidelines also prohibit platforms from charging duplicative fees to merchants, collecting fees without providing adequate services, or passing on costs that should be borne by the platform itself. Platforms are barred from charging merchants for access to their own basic business data, and from forcing or coercing them directly or indirectly into purchasing services or participating in promotions. They are also prohibited from using unreasonable security deposits as disguised fees or to artificially raise charges, and from engaging in price discrimination against merchants operating under equivalent trading conditions, according to the SAMR.


Global Times