Collect all necessary information
Before filing a complaint, please make sure that you have the below information:
1. Name and address of the involved supplier
2. Details of the products or services involved, including the amount
3. Cause and time of the dispute
4. Your personal information (including contact details)
Dial (+8610)12345
1. After the call is connected, you will first be answered by a voice prompt in Chinese; please press 1 for individual complaint channel;
2. Tell the operator the details of your case and provide the information listed in STEP 1. (The 12345 hotline of Beijing Municipality currently provides services in eight foreign languages including English, French, Spanish, Russian, German, Japanese, Korean and Arabic. If you file your complaint in one of these languages, the operator will transfer your call to the foreign language customer services.)
Wait for your result
1. After receiving your complaint, the hotline will forward the acceptance form to the relevant department, and the latter will proactively call you.
2. Upon acknowledging the receipt of your case, the relevant department will contact you within 45 working days to mediate between both parties. If a mutual agreement is not reached during this period, the department will legally terminate the mediation. If your consumer dispute remains unresolved, you may choose to file a civil lawsuit with a People's Court that has jurisdiction.
Submit materials to file a case
Submit all the necessary materials to a people's court having jurisdiction to file a civil case. These materials include:
1. A complaint, with copies provided according to the number of defendants (If the plaintiff is not proficient in Chinese, they may have it drafted through a law firm on their behalf.)
2. Proof of legal status of the plaintiff (A photocopy of your passport)
3. Documents related to the legal representative (a power of attorney, a photocopy of the lawyer's license, a letter from the law firm, etc.)
4. Evidence (Invoices, receipts, purchase contracts, shipping documents, screenshots featuring the chat records with the supplier, product appraisal results, etc.; photocopies of these materials can be submitted instead.)
Notice:
If you need to appoint a lawyer as your legal representative, it is necessary to engage a Chinese lawyer. According to the Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China, "A foreign national, stateless person or foreign enterprise or organization who sues or responds to a lawsuit in a people's court and needs to appoint a lawyer to represent them must appoint a lawyer from the People's Republic of China."
Notification of time and location
of court appearance
If the people's court accepts the litigation, the consumer, as the plaintiff, shall pay the acceptance fee within seven days from the next day of receiving the notification of payment of the acceptance fee from the people's court.
The people's court will notify both the plaintiff and the defendant(s) of the time and location of court appearance three days prior to the hearings.
Hearings and mediation/judgment
You can choose to mediate with the defendant(s) to solve the dispute under the auspices of the people's court; if an agreement is reached, it will become effective from the day you and the defendant(s) sign it.
Otherwise, the people's court will make the judgment.
