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Another important statute is the Law of P. R. China on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Consumers 1993 (PRICL). This statute renders the consumers the rights and imposes certain obligations upon producers and sellers during the circulation of products. For example, the PRICL stipulates that undertakers shall warrant their product harmless to the others’ property or health, warn and give clear introduction to the consumers for use of certain dangerous products, and provide period of quality guarantee to certain products. The PRICL is treated as a branch of civil law in China, and frequently used as statutory reference in most cases that a consumer sues a producer, a seller, or the both. If taking an overview of the product liability law of China, the General Principle of Civil Law can be regarded as the root statute of the structure, and the Product Quality Law (from a perspective of administrative law) and the Consumer Protection Law (from a perspective of civil law) can be regarded as two mail pillars of the structure. However, there are also other sources of product liability law in China, outlined as follows:
w Administrative Rules of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone on Product Quality (1995)
w Law of the P. R. China on Standardization (1988)
w Law of the P. R. China on Food Hygiene (1995)
w Regulations on the Implementation of the General Standards for Food Labeling (1987)
w General Standards for the Labeling of Food (1994)
w Advertising Law of the P. R. China (1994)
w Law of the P. R. China Against Unfair Competition (1993)
w Pricing Law of the P. R. China (1997)
w Judicial Interpretations of the Supreme Court
Therefore, the product liability may involve different laws in China, depending on what kind of product or the particular matter in issue. For example, a pharmaceutical product shall be generally subject to the Product Quality Law and the provisions of Law on Administration of Pharmaceuticals. Once the producer or seller intends to launch advertisements for his pharmaceutical product, the wording used in the advertisements shall be subject to the Advertising Law. The producer or seller of this product will be liable for use of misleading statement in his advertisement.
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