Popular Experts: Leading Enterprises in the Industry Should Take the Lead in Purifying the Market

In order to meet the demand for upgrading household appliance consumption in the market, stimulate the development of upstream and downstream related industries of household appliances, and promote the consumption of green and intelligent household appliances, recently, policies related to the introduction of green and intelligent household appliances to the countryside have been implemented in many places across the country, focusing on complementing the shortcomings of green and intelligent household appliances in the rural market. However, the phenomenon of virtual energy efficiency standards for household appliances still exists in large numbers.

According to data disclosed by the China Consumer Association, in 2022, among all complaints accepted by the National Consumer Association, household electronic and electrical appliances complaints ranked first among commodity complaints, with 121524 complaints, an increase of 13103 over the same period last year, and the proportion of complaints was 10.55%. Among them, the false promotion of the functions of household appliances and the serious false labeling of parameter information have become one of the main issues of complaints.

In an interview with the Securities Daily reporter, Zhang Jianfeng, Secretary General and Press Spokesperson of the China Household Electrical Appliances Business Association, said that in the market, false labeling of energy and water efficiency of household electrical appliances has occurred from time to time, and there are violations of consumer interests. The root cause is the weak legal awareness of relevant enterprises and the need for further strengthening of industry self-discipline. "Promoting the introduction of green smart home appliances to the countryside and boosting consumption is the focus of this year's work. I hope that the majority of home appliance enterprises will take active action and closely communicate with local business departments to effectively implement relevant policies on green smart home appliances."

Recently, the famous online celebrity "Crazy Little Yang Brother" turned over with goods. The anchor posted false advertisements during the live broadcast promotion, and the relevant product sales enterprises were fined 56430 yuan by the regulatory department. Previously, the anchor recommended and sold the Jinzheng Qingyin heating wall breaking machine in the live broadcast room, but was later questioned by the "dummy" about the product's "virtual standard power.".

With the increasing demand for intelligent and diversified household appliances, all major electrical brands have increased the proportion of green and emerging intelligent household appliances in their product proportion. However, the number of complaints about the quality of household appliances and after-sales service has also increased significantly, and phenomena such as energy efficiency false standards have gradually become prominent. On the Black Cat complaint platform, there are a large number of complaints about false propaganda, power virtual labeling, parameter inconsistency, unknown power, and damage to virtual labeling appliances, accounting for more than 30% of household appliance complaints, becoming a "hot spot" for complaints.

It is understood that in recent years, the phenomenon of virtual energy efficiency standards for household appliances has mainly occurred in small household appliances, online popular products, and live streaming e-commerce platforms.

Lu Jianguo, Deputy Chief Engineer of China Home Appliances Research Institute, said in an interview with Securities Daily, "At present, energy efficiency and power demarcating are relatively common phenomena in household appliances, and they are more frequent on e-commerce platforms. The main reasons behind this are the pursuit of profits due to the rising cost of enterprises, and inadequate industry management. To solve this problem, it is necessary to start with standards, while strengthening the supervision of standard implementation."

It is worth noting that most mainstream household appliance brands are listed companies. Many experts believe that in the process of bringing green smart home appliances to the countryside, large enterprises should take the lead in purifying the industry and strengthen the supervision of the green industry chain.

"At present, the situation of household appliance brands that fail to meet energy efficiency standards and substitute substandard products for high-quality ones has been repeatedly prohibited. In response to this situation, relevant departments should address it from the source, not provide subsidies indiscriminately, and support enterprises or brands that truly promote the green manufacturing of smart appliances. Multiple measures should be taken to ensure that policies can 'infiltrate' all aspects of green manufacturing and green consumption. At the same time, a recovery mechanism should be launched for illegal enterprises to achieve this goal "Accurate support and adequate subsidies." Hu Hongsen, founder of Sen Technology, told Securities Daily.

In the view of Qi Chengjun, a partner lawyer at Beijing Yingke (Wuxi) Law Firm, issues such as functional falsehood have become persistent problems. However, in the context of the continuous promotion of the policy of bringing green appliances to the countryside, relevant policies and enterprises should ensure that consumers buy green appliances that meet relevant national standards. "Relevant departments can consider increasing subsidies for products with high technology content, encouraging the development of high-tech product markets and product upgrading. Enterprises, especially listed companies in the industrial chain, should play a leading role in the market, actively develop green and intelligent high-tech products, strengthen product quality management, and eliminate the phenomenon of energy efficiency false standards."

Zhang Jianfeng believes that the top listed companies in the industrial chain should also demonstrate a sense of social responsibility, effectively strengthen the independent and controllable supply chain of the industrial chain, play an industry leading and market demonstration role, embody the advantages of the top in fair and standardized market competition, and promote the high-quality development of China's home appliance industry.