On December 25, 2018, the China Consumers Association (CCA) held the "2018 Work Conference of the Legal Panel of China Consumers Association". At the meeting, Mr. Deng Zhisong, a senior partner of Dentons Beijing office, was appointed to the panel with the appointment spanning two years (from January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2020), and received a letter of appointment.
In order to fully fulfill its responsibilities including supporting litigation for public welfare under the "Consumer Rights Protection Law", and make full use of lawyers in the empowerment of consumer rights protection, the CCA established a new legal panel in 2015 and selected panel members from full-time lawyers. The panel is responsible to provide legal services on consumer rights protection, participate in analysis and research of major and typical complaints, provide legal advice, and support consumers in litigation if necessary.
In 2018, the legal panel assisted the CCA in doing plenty of work to protect consumer rights: it provided 15 written legal analysis and opinions and participated in 41 special meetings of the CCA; panel members participated onsite interviews with companies in 5 times and were directly retained by the CCA to represent consumers in 2 litigations; the panel has repeatedly expressed its views on consumer rights protection, and has been interviewed by the People's Daily, CCTV and other news media; the lawyers constantly participated in the "Daily 3.15" program jointly organized by the CCA and the China National Radio. The panel's work in the field of rights protection has been recognized by consumers, consumer associations and all sectors of the community.
In view of the outstanding contributions made by the legal panel and the vast consumer rights protection tasks in the new era, at the meeting, Zhu Jianqiao, Secretary General of the CCA, announced the appointment of four lawyers including Mr. Deng to the legal panel. Currently, the panel has 25 members, 2 of which come from Dentons, including senior partner Zhang Cheng, who was appointed a few years before, and Mr. Deng.
Under the support of the All China Lawyers Association, the panel has continuously strengthened its team building, enriched its practice structure, and added lawyers specialized in areas such as anti-monopoly and personal information protection. At the meeting, the CCA also hosted a seminar on how to further empowering the panel and protecting consumers' rights. With the further improvement of the work patterns of the panel and expansion of the area of rights protection, we are convinced that the panel will play a greater role in the consumer rights protection work.
