China's market regulator proposes amendments to e-commerce law

BEIJING (Reuters) -China's market regulator proposed amendments to the country's e-commerce law, saying that licences can be revoked if the platforms fail to take necessary measures against vendors who infringe intellectual property rights.

The amendments are open for public review before Oct. 14, an article published by the State Administration of Market Regulation (SAMR) website on Tuesday said.

China has been tightening regulatory control over the country's internet giants, drafting new laws in areas such as anti-monopoly and data security.

The licence revocations are new, while the proposed amendment retains an existing maximum penalty of a 2 million yuan ($309,521) fine for platforms found to have commited less serious infringements.

China’s largest e-commerce platforms include Alibaba’s Taobao and Tmall marketplaces, JD.com and Pinduoduo.

($1 = 6.4616 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Sophie Yu and Brenda Goh, Editing by Louise Heavens and Barbara Lewis)