Greater awareness of consumer rights has resulted in a 67 per cent increase in complaints in the first half of this year.

The municipal industrial and commercial administration of Guangzhou handled 15,226 complaints from local consumers and settled over 96 per cent of them in the first half of this year, said Liu Yong, deputy director of the city's Administration of Industry and Commerce.

Liu attributed the surge of complaints to citizens' increasing purchasing power, as well as an increased awareness of consumers' rights.

Official statistics indicate the annual average per capita expenditure by the city's residents on consumer goods was 5,525 yuan (US$666), up 5 per cent over the same period last year.

He said that the increased efficiency of the municipal industrial and commercial administration's work also accounted for the increased number of complaints.

Complaints over poor-quality goods and services made up 60 per cent of the total, with the number growing to 68 per cent over the same period in 2002.

Local consumers complained most about the quality of mobile phones, computers, air-conditioners, shoes and furniture.

Most often, he said, it was the failure of business operators to fulfil their responsibilities with regard to the quality of goods that triggered complaints.

Illegal pyramid selling also led to a number of complaints. About 70 enterprises suspected of illegal pyramid selling were investigated in the past six months, involving a total value of over 700 million yuan (US$84.38 million).

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