Relevant responsible comrades from the National Development and Reform Commission answer questions from reporters on the “Internet Platform Price Conduct Rules”

The Zhitong Finance App learned that recently, the National Development and Reform Commission, the General Administration of Market Supervision, and the State Internet Information Office jointly issued the “Internet Platform Price Conduct Rules” (hereinafter referred to as the “Rules of Conduct”). In response to reporters' questions, relevant responsible comrades from the National Development and Reform Commission said that the National Development and Reform Commission, the General Administration of Market Supervision, and the State Internet Information Office will strengthen departmental collaboration, give full play to the self-regulatory role of the industry, guide all regions to strengthen market inspection and supervision, urge platform operators and operators within the platform to standardize price behavior, and push for implementation and results of various regulatory requirements. The first is to carry out policy promotion. In-depth policy promotion is carried out to regulate the order of price competition in the platform economy, protect the legitimate rights and interests of consumers and operators within the platform, and prompt operators to operate in accordance with the law. The second is to promote industry self-discipline. Give full play to the role of industry associations and chambers of commerce, push relevant operators to take the lead in complying with regulatory requirements, and consciously regulate price behavior. The third is to strengthen monitoring and evaluation. Closely monitor the price competition situation in the platform economy, follow up and evaluate the implementation of the “Rules of Conduct”, and promptly discover problem clues. Fourth, strengthen supervision and enforcement. Implement the supervisory measures proposed in the “Rules of Conduct”, investigate and punish price violations in accordance with the law, and maintain a fair competitive market environment.

The original text is as follows:

Relevant responsible comrades from the National Development and Reform Commission answer questions from reporters on the “Internet Platform Price Conduct Rules”

In order to thoroughly implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress and the 20th Plenary Session of the Party and promote the innovation and healthy development of the platform economy, recently, the National Development and Reform Commission, the General Administration of Market Supervision, and the State Internet Information Office jointly issued the “Internet Platform Price Conduct Rules” (hereinafter referred to as the “Rules of Conduct”). Relevant responsible comrades from the National Development and Reform Commission were interviewed and answered questions from reporters.

1. What are the main changes made to the “Rules of Conduct” after public consultation?

Answer: According to the work schedule, the National Development and Reform Commission, the General Administration of Market Supervision, and the State Internet Information Office publicly solicited public comments on the “Code of Conduct” from August 23 to September 22, 2025. During this period, it received widespread attention from all sectors of society. Many operators, consumers, and experts put forward valuable opinions and suggestions. We analyzed this step by step and revised and improved the “Rules of Conduct”, mainly by refining the regulatory requirements to protect the autonomous pricing rights of operators within the platform, clarifying the rules for clearly labeling prices, improving the criteria for determining improper price behavior, and optimizing consumer price rights protection provisions, etc. At the same time, we once again listened to the opinions of relevant enterprises and localities, and made further revisions and improvements to the relevant provisions in comparison with the requirements of laws and regulations such as the Price Law, the Anti-Unfair Competition Law, and the implementing regulations of the Consumer Rights Protection Law. On the basis of completing procedures such as legality review and fair competition review, the National Development and Reform Commission, the General Administration of Market Supervision, and the State Internet Information Office jointly issued the “Rules of Conduct”.

2. What are the main contents of the officially published “Rules of Conduct”?

Answer: The “Rules of Conduct” have a total of 7 chapters and 29 articles, which stipulate the rules that platform operators and operators within the platform should abide by when implementing price behavior, including the following details.

Chapter 1, General Provisions, and Article 3 mainly clarifies the legal basis, scope of application, and basic principles that operators should follow.

Chapter II, section 3, on operators' independent pricing mainly focuses on protecting operators' independent pricing rights, clarifies the basic requirements for operators to set their own pricing according to law, refines the regulatory regulations protecting the right of operators within the platform to set their own pricing, and regulates the charging behavior of platform operators.

Chapter 3: Operators' Price Labeling Behavior, Article 7, mainly combines specific scenarios and transaction characteristics in the field of platform economy, refines the rules for platform operators and operators within the platform to clearly label prices, requires disclosure of rules such as differential pricing, dynamic pricing, and bidding rankings, and regulates subsidized promotion behavior.

Chapter 4: Price Competition by Operators, section 6, mainly focuses on maintaining the order of price competition and clarifying price integrity requirements, etc., and proposes that operators shall not carry out unfair price acts such as low price dumping, price discrimination, price collusion, price hikes, and price fraud.

Chapter 5, Consumer Price Rights Protection Section 3, mainly focuses on protecting consumers' right to know and make independent choices. It stipulates that operators provide password-free payment services, sell insurance, transportation and other services or products, set up automatic renewals and automatic deductions, display relevant options to consumers in a prominent manner, and provide convenient cancellation methods. Platform operators are encouraged to establish online price dispute resolution mechanisms, product quality commitments and guarantee systems.

Chapter 6, Supervisory Mechanism, and Article 4, mainly clarifies the responsibilities and measures of development reform, market supervision, and Internet information department supervision, and requires platform operators to establish and improve price behavior compliance management systems, and industry associations and chambers of commerce to give full play to the self-regulatory role of the industry.

Chapter 7, Schedule 3, mainly stipulates that the price behavior of self-built website operators and other operators participating in the platform economy is subject to these rules, and clarifies the interpretation authority and implementation date of the document.

3. Why is the implementation date of the “Rules of Conduct” set on April 10, 2026?

A: The “Rules of Conduct” put forward detailed supervision requirements for the price behavior of platform operators and operators within the platform. Objectively, it takes a certain amount of time to implement these requirements. For this reason, the implementation date of the Rules of Conduct is April 10, 2026. In the period from the publication of the “Rules of Conduct” until implementation, the National Development and Reform Commission, the General Administration of Market Supervision, and the State Internet Information Office will organize major platform operators to conduct self-checks against regulatory requirements item by item, focusing on the following tasks:

The first is to implement regulations regulating the price behavior of platform operators. Platform operators should comprehensively sort out the relevant provisions in the internal compliance system, refine and improve the provisions of the “Rules of Conduct”. In particular, they should implement regulations protecting consumers' price rights and interests and regulating the charging behavior of platform operators, etc., and earnestly implement them in their daily operations.

The second is to improve the system rules relating to operators within the platform. Platform operators shall revise and improve platform rules relating to the price behavior of operators within the platform in accordance with the provisions of the “Rules of Conduct” on independent pricing, clear pricing, price competition, etc. in accordance with the law, and provide necessary support for operators within the platform to implement regulatory requirements.

The third is to strengthen the promotion of the system. Platform operators should actively publicize the “Rules of Conduct” and the new requirements of related platform rules to operators within the platform, do a good job of explaining them, push platform operators to consciously regulate price behavior, and jointly build a good platform ecosystem with orderly and fair competition.

At the same time, the National Development and Reform Commission, the General Administration of Market Supervision, and the State Internet Information Office will guide relevant industry associations to take various measures to strengthen industry self-discipline and jointly implement the “Rules of Conduct”.

4. How will the “Rules of Conduct” be implemented next?

Answer: The National Development and Reform Commission, the General Administration of Market Supervision, and the State Internet Information Office will strengthen departmental collaboration, give full play to the self-regulatory role of the industry, guide all regions to strengthen market inspection, supervision and inspection, urge platform operators and operators within the platform to standardize price behavior, and push for implementation and effectiveness of various regulatory requirements. The first is to carry out policy promotion. In-depth policy promotion is carried out to regulate the order of price competition in the platform economy, protect the legitimate rights and interests of consumers and operators within the platform, and prompt operators to operate in accordance with the law. The second is to promote industry self-discipline. Give full play to the role of industry associations and chambers of commerce, push relevant operators to take the lead in complying with regulatory requirements, and consciously regulate price behavior. The third is to strengthen monitoring and evaluation. Closely monitor the price competition situation in the platform economy, follow up and evaluate the implementation of the “Rules of Conduct”, and promptly discover problem clues. Fourth, strengthen supervision and enforcement. Implement the supervisory measures proposed in the “Rules of Conduct”, investigate and punish price violations in accordance with the law, and maintain a fair competitive market environment.

This article was selected from the official website of the “National Development and Reform Commission”, Zhitong Finance Editor: Feng Qiuyi.