Professors urges consumer rights education
( 2002-02-07 12:03 ) (1 )

A group of academics advised Chinese consumers to learn as much as possible about the products they want to buy.

More than 200 professors, including 75 from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, told consumers on Wednesday in Beijing to protect their legal rights by taking an active role in learning about the items they purchase.

"Consumers need to learn more," said Nan Qingxian, a renowned food expert from the China University of Agriculture.

Understanding about products is especially important since more and more goods such as cars, computers, mobile phones, and specific services can be complicated by high-tech technology.

"Researching products can help consumers tell fake products from real ones and weed through misleading advertisements," Nan said.

The suggestions were announced at the conference which was jointly organized by the China Consumers' Association (CCA) and the China Association of Science and Technology.

The meeting was part of CCA's 2002 publicity campaign to protect consumers' rights.

The academics said the publicity campaign was a good way for them to share their knowledge of science and technology with consumers.

"It's a good idea to hold these kinds of events, so that consumers learn to have a command of science and technology that are used in goods and services," said scientist Wang Daheng.

Wang said it is essential for Chinese people to consume goods without wasting them since China is so populous and resources are limited.

The scientists also offered some advice to the government, since principles of the WTO - such as market access, the protection of intellectual property rights, and fair play - are all closely related to protecting consumers' rights.

They said they hoped governmental departments continue to play a bigger role in the nation's market reform.

One example is continuing the crackdown on counterfeit and shoddy commodities, the scientists said.

Statistics uncovered more than 100,000 cases involving the production and sales of fake goods as well as 130,900 cases involving the violation of consumers' rights last year, they said.

The scientists also said they hoped the government will continue to increase its supervision over trademark and advertisement to prevent illegal practices. For example, producers of fake brands of merchandise should face serious punishment, the scientists said.