Choice-of-Court Agreements in Electronic Consumer Contracts in China

Abstract

This paper critically examines the effectiveness of choice of court agreement in e-consumer contracts in China. It at first compares the regulation of Chinese law on e-consumer contracts with US and EU approaches. Based on some recently published cases, this paper argues that the protection of local business and the need of safeguarding jurisdiction of Chinese courts are central concerns underlining the current legislative framework. However, an attitude of local protectionism may cause difficulties for local exporting e-businesses when expanding their business overseas. At this stage, the guided cases released by Supreme People’s Court may be the most effective way to bring uniformity and certainty into current Chinese law to improve the level of consumer protection in internet jurisdiction rules.

Keywords: consumer law; choice of court agreement; conflict of laws; Chinese law