The Zhejiang Consumer Protection Association recently held a meeting to discuss the consumer experience of paying for online audiovisual and reading content. Beijing Jinjiang Literature City, a well-known mainland Chinese online literature website, was named as needing improvement but failed to attend the meeting. They even issued a statement suggesting that Zhejiang’s summons had the suspicion of being a “distant fishing expedition”.
According to reports from China Consumers Daily and Observer Network, the Zhejiang Provincial Consumer Rights Protection Commission recently conducted consumer surveys in the field of paid knowledge, audiovisual membership services, reading apps, and other content payment areas. They organized a meeting with responsible persons from companies in the fields of knowledge payment, audiovisual content, and reading apps to discuss the consumer experience and reported on the situation.
The Consumer Protection Association announced that six companies including Kuke Online School, Dedao, Migu Video, Yisou Novels, Midu Novels, and Jinjiang Novels did not participate in the meeting, with Jinjiang Novels being criticized for lacking a “youth mode” on their desktop version.
However, Beijing Jinjiang Original Network Technology released an explanation on December 20 regarding Zhejiang’s request for rectification and subsequent media reports stating that the company has been in existence for 20 years, with its registered location and main office in Beijing under the jurisdiction of relevant administrative authorities in the city.
The statement also pointed out the suspicion of Zhejiang province delivering the summons to attend the meeting from afar, emphasizing that the Beijing public security has warned about being vigilant against such actions and unfamiliar institutions from different regions conducting enforcement actions without proper local administrative approval.
Furthermore, the statement mentioned that Jinjiang Literature City communicated with the local administrative authorities, who confirmed that they had not received any relevant cooperation requests recently. Therefore, Jinjiang Literature City did not comply with Zhejiang Consumer Protection Association’s request to attend the meeting in a different location, and the company was not aware of the legal requirement for the reading industry to develop a “youth mode”.
Regarding media reports that the “Jinjiang Novels Reading” app was accused of infringing on consumers’ right to information by not revealing that consumers paid hundreds of yuan and still couldn’t see the ending of a novel, the company stated that there were several inaccuracies in those reports.
Public information shows that Jinjiang Literature City is a Beijing-based original network literary website and literary forum that once held 80% of China’s mainland female book market share.
“Distant fishing expedition” refers to some public security agencies in certain regions illegally arresting, seizing, and freezing personnel and assets of companies from other regions for profit-driven motives. This term has become popular in mainland China lately. With the economic downturn, such actions have significantly increased, making companies more sensitive to this issue.