Consumer complaints surge in China

Chinese consumers lodged 1.02 million complaints with a government-sponsored hotline and online platform in 2013, up 13.85 percent year on year, a government report said on Friday. The country's industry and commerce authorities found illegal practices involving business operations, consumer rights infringements and illegal advertising, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce said in the report. More than 400,000 cases involved companies without business licenses and 131,800 cases infringed upon consumers' rights, the report said. Meanwhile, there were other violations such as illegal advertising and fraudulent trademarks, the report said. Authorities helped consumers recover 1.3 billion yuan (211.91 million U.S. dollars) of losses, the report said. The service 12315 is a national hotline and online platform.