People's Finance News, July 24th: Recently, the State Administration for Market Regulation exposed a batch of typical cases of "involight-style" competition violations in the quality field. The common feature of these cases is that enterprises ignore brand, quality and technology competition. In order to obtain short-term market share and profits, they reduce cost input and disrupt the fair competition order of the market with "low-quality" products. These vicious competitive behaviors that ignore brand "price competition", sacrifice quality "cost competition", and disregard rules "lower limit competition" have led to an overall decline in product quality, directly affecting the consumer rights and interests of the people and undermining the long-term healthy development ecosystem of the industry.
At present, multiple factors have led to "involution" competition in the quality field: First, there is a structural imbalance between supply and demand. In some industries, demand is weak and overcapacity occurs. Existing enterprises have no choice but to compete within a limited market space in order to survive. Second, some enterprises focus only on short-term interests, lack innovation capabilities and the awareness of differentiated competition, are accustomed to competing on costs and engaging in price wars, and even deliberately produce and sell counterfeit goods, disregarding the legal bottom line. Thirdly, the regulatory systems and mechanisms in some fields are still not perfect, providing opportunities for some enterprises to take risks and cross the bottom line.
To implement the relevant decisions and plans of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and The State Council, the State Administration for Market Regulation adheres to the combination of crackdown and construction, as well as management and service, takes the initiative to act, and resolutely rectifications the problem of "intra-industry competition" in the quality field. First, strengthen market access management to help resolve the contradiction between supply and demand. Strengthen source governance, make efforts from the supply side, strictly manage the production license access of 27 key industrial products in 14 categories, balance the increase and decrease of enterprises, strictly enforce the approval requirements for safety, technology and quality, raise the market entry threshold, reduce excessive entry, and prevent low-quality and vicious competition. Second, strengthen quality and safety supervision and standardize the order of fair competition. We will intensify the national supervision and random inspection of online-sold products. The planned number of sampling batches in 2025 will increase by 70% compared with that in 2024. We will promote the pilot program for verifying the quality and safety labels of 10 key online sales products, urge platform operators to strengthen the review of product entry, and curb counterfeit and shoddy products. Carry out special rectification campaigns on the quality and safety of electric bicycles, gas appliances and building insulation materials to ensure the bottom line of quality and safety. Third, enhance services to assist enterprises and help improve product quality. Organize local market supervision departments to carry out the "You Point, I Help" quality and technical assistance campaign, and provide precise assistance to enterprises and industries such as wires and cables, steel bars, motorcycles, and energy storage batteries on a "one enterprise, one policy" and "one industry, one policy" basis. Explore and promote the pilot work of product quality grading, build a product quality grading standard system, advocate high quality and high price, and guide enterprises to compete in an orderly manner.