On Monday, the State General Administration for Quality Supervision and Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), the State General Administration for Industry and Commerce, and the Ministry of Information Industry announced that the regulations for the repair, replacement and return of fixed and mobile phones had been approved and would take effect on November 15.

The regulations are also expected to help rectify and standardize the sales and after-sales service of the two products.

According to the regulations, dealers are now responsible for phones they have sold.

At present, since there is no specific regulations, dealers and manufacturers always pass the buck if there is something wrong with the phone products.

The regulations also require that phone repair workers should go through relevant training courses before they can be employed.

According to Xiu Xiaoping, deputy director of the bureau of consumer rights protection of the State General Administration for Industry and Commerce, about 8 per cent of the complaints the bureau received in the first half of the year were against mobile phones.

The telecommunication industry has been developing with surprising speed in China, far surpassing that in other countries.

According to Vice-Minister of Information Industry Lou Qinjian, by the end of July, there were 120.6 million mobile phone users in China, making the country the biggest mobile phone market, followed by the United States. In addition, the amount of fixed phone users in China hit 167 million.

Compared with other appliances, such as TV sets and refrigerators, mobile phones are "new" products.

Though there are specific prescriptions on repair, replacement and return of electric appliances, there are no similar regulations on the after-sales services of mobile phone products.

Due to this, the sales and after-sale service of mobile phones has been in great disorder, and complaints involving cellular phones have been on the rise.

(Chinadaily09/26/2001)