Hangzhou unveiled its 2023 Consumer Rights Protection White Paper on March 13.

The white paper compiles data and information on the evaluation of Hangzhou's consumer rights protection work in 2023, the building of consumer confidence, complaints and reports received by market supervision departments, and prospects for related work in the coming year.

In 2023, Hangzhou strengthened efforts to resolve consumer disputes, facilitating the direct resolution of 181,000 cases by companies and assisting in the resolution of 126,000 cases. It pioneered a digital platform to handle consumer disputes, serving 32,700 companies and safeguarding 42 million transactions. The city also issued the first local standard in the country for trustworthy live streaming room management, establishing 552 trustworthy online shops, 233 trustworthy live streaming rooms, 423 consumer rights protection contact stations, and 136 trustworthy business areas. It also saw 19,000 businesses offering no-reason return policies, with a total of 613,200 no-reason return transactions completed, amounting to 73.04 million yuan ($10.16 million) in refunds.

The city also released the 2024 Consumer Trend Report, highlighting five major trends in the consumer market, namely cost-effectiveness, emotional value, outdoor consumption and the silver economy, instant gratification, and upgraded consumption in county-level areas.

Hangzhou has topped the list as China's happiest city for 17 years in a row and ranked among the top three cities nationwide in consumer satisfaction for five consecutive years.