China's State Administration for Market Regulation Releases 2025 Consumer Rights Protection Data: Recovered Losses of 43.5 Billion Yuan, Consumer Complaints Exceed 20 Million for the First Time, Post-Sale Service and Contract Issues Stand Out

Today (the 15th), a reporter learned from the State Administration for Market Regulation that in 2025, market regulation departments across the country handled a total of 43.866 million consumer complaints, reports, and inquiries through the 12315 platform, phone calls, and other channels, recovering 4.35 billion yuan in economic losses for consumers and effectively protecting their legal rights and interests.

The State Administration for Market Regulation introduced the following characteristics of consumer complaints and reports in 2025:

First-time complaints exceeded 20 million, with prominent issues in after-sales service and contracts

In 2025, market regulation departments nationwide received a total of 20.366 million complaints, a 9.3% increase year-on-year. The total number of complaints first surpassed 20 million, indicating a continued rise in consumer awareness of rights. Complaints about after-sales service have ranked first for three consecutive years, highlighting some merchants’ insufficient attention to after-sales guarantees and their failure to meet basic consumer service demands. Regarding growth rates, contract issues increased by 40.3% year-on-year, making it the fastest-growing core problem in complaints. Consumers mainly reported difficulties with refunds, opaque contract terms, hidden “霸王条款” (abusive clauses) in standard contracts, merchants not fulfilling obligations as agreed, and discrepancies between promotional promises and contract content.

New characteristics in online shopping demands, with economic losses recovered exceeding 1 billion yuan

In 2025, the 12315 platform nationwide received 15.067 million complaints and reports related to online shopping, a 14.3% increase year-on-year, accounting for 56.9% of total complaints and reports. Among these, 11.447 million were complaints and 3.62 million reports, recovering 1.07 billion yuan in economic losses for consumers, representing 24.6% of the total recovered losses.

The main issues involve after-sales service and product quality, which are the most frequently reported areas, with complaint and report volumes of 3.486 million and 2.886 million respectively, accounting for 42.3% combined.

Additionally, price disputes during e-commerce shopping festivals stand out, with core conflicts centered on: consumers paying deposits during pre-sale periods and then finding lower prices during final payment or promotional peak times. Although platforms offer price protection services, consumers often face rejection when applying for price protection due to reasons such as changed product links or different types of coupons.

Noticeable fluctuations in takeout demands, industry competition needs to become more rational

In 2025, platforms received 505,000 complaints and reports about takeout services, a 14.1% increase year-on-year. The main issues include food safety (262,000), after-sales service (63,000), contract issues (24,000), unfair competition (23,000), and quality problems (19,000), together accounting for nearly 80% of complaints.

In the third quarter, major platforms engaged in “subsidy wars” to attract traffic, leading to a surge in orders. However, service guarantees could not keep pace, resulting in increased demands. Complaints and reports increased by 23.8% year-on-year and 19.2% quarter-on-quarter, marking the period with the largest growth in consumer demands for the year.

In the fourth quarter, as subsidy policies receded and the market gradually “cooled down,” demand decreased by 22.8% quarter-on-quarter. The State Administration for Market Regulation stated that overall, consumer demands in the takeout industry fluctuate with market conditions, and industry competition should shift toward more rational and sustainable development.

Rising “charging anxiety” demands, urgent upgrade of service experience

In 2025, complaints and reports related to power banks reached 156,000, a 62.5% increase year-on-year. Key issues include product quality, return disputes, shared power banks being difficult to borrow and return, and abnormal billing. Meanwhile, with the rapid increase in new energy vehicle ownership and expanding charging infrastructure, the quality of charging services has become increasingly problematic.

In 2025, complaints and reports involving EV charging facilities totaled 61,000, a 47.8% increase year-on-year. Main issues include difficulties in refunding recharge balances, some charging station operators “running away” and disappearing, unclear charging standards, and customer service being virtually non-existent.

Jewelry consumption upgrades, gold and jade become core complaint areas

In 2025, the platform received 380,000 jewelry-related complaints and reports, a 16.4% increase. Among these, gold jewelry (142,000) and natural jade (102,000) are the main focus areas, accounting for 87.9% of total jewelry complaints and reports, along with silver jewelry (45,000), alloy jewelry (28,000), and natural gemstones (17,000).

Consumers mainly report issues in three areas:

• Some products have insufficient precious metal purity, inferior jade, or harmful substances exceeding standards;
• “One-price” gold jewelry does not clearly indicate weight, with actual unit prices far above market gold prices, and undisclosed exchange restrictions;
• E-commerce sales issues are prominent, accounting for 60% of jewelry complaints, involving false advertising, product mismatches, and “customization non-refundable” policies.

Rapid rise of smart consumption, disconnect between function promotion and user experience

In 2025, the 12315 platform received 152,000 complaints and reports related to smart devices, a 26.6% increase year-on-year. Leading categories include smartwatches (50,000), smart home devices (29,000), drones (19,000), smart accessories (18,000), and smart robots (17,000), together accounting for 87.5% of total. Growth rates are particularly high for drones, smart bands (10,000), and smart glasses (3,235), with increases of 45.5%, 39.4%, and 37.7% respectively.

Consumers mainly report issues such as:

• Overhyped “smart” labels with actual functions limited to basic connectivity or remote control, failing to address real needs, leading to large expectation gaps;
• Software problems like system upgrade failures, app crashes, poor compatibility, and data synchronization issues, often intertwined with hardware failures;
• Lack of unified technical standards and quality benchmarks in emerging smart device fields, with incomplete after-sales systems and high thresholds for returns and exchanges.