Product Liability in China: What Foreign Manufacturers and Exporters Must Know

Introduction

A foreign manufacturer whose product reaches Chinese consumers faces a liability system that is stricter than many assume — and that reaches back to the producer even when the sale happened through an importer or distributor. Three sources interact: the Product Quality Law, the Civil Code's product-liability chapter, and a recall regime scattered across sector rules.

The Product Quality Law: Strict Liability for Producers

The Product Quality Law (adopted 1993, current text from the third amendment of 29 December 2018) sets the baseline:

• Producer strict liability (Article 41): a producer is liable for injury to persons or damage to property caused by a defective product, with only three defenses — the product was not put into circulation, the defect did not exist when it was put into circulation, or the state of science and technology at that time could not detect it;
• Seller fault liability (Article 42): the seller is liable on fault, and also liable where it cannot identify the producer or supplier;
• Claim either (Article 43): the victim may claim against the producer or the seller, with a right of recourse between them;
• Damages (Article 44): medical, nursing and lost-income costs, disability and death compensation for personal injury; restoration or value compensation for property damage;
• Defect defined (Article 46): an unreasonable danger, or non-conformity with a mandatory national or industry standard.

A note on timing: a broader revision of the Product Quality Law was published for public comment in October 2023 but had not been adopted as of September 2026. The direction of travel (a statutory recall regime, liability for defects discovered after circulation, heavier punitive damages) should be monitored but is not yet law.

The Civil Code: Modern Product Liability and Punitive Damages

The Civil Code (in force since 1 January 2021) supplies the modern framework, in Articles 1202–1207:

• Article 1202: the producer bears no-fault liability for damage caused by a defective product;
• Article 1203: the injured person may claim against either producer or seller, with recourse after payment;
• Article 1204: where a third party (transporter, warehouser) caused the defect, the producer or seller recovers from it;
• Article 1205: where a defect endangers safety, an action lies to stop the infringement, remove the obstruction or eliminate the danger;
• Article 1206: where a defect is discovered after circulation, the producer or seller must promptly stop sale, warn and recall; failure to act in time creates liability for the expanded harm;
• Article 1207 (punitive damages): where the producer or seller knowingly makes or sells a defective product, or fails to take effective remedial measures under Article 1206, causing death or serious harm to health, the injured person may claim punitive damages.

The Consumer Protection Law adds its own multipliers — "refund plus three times" for fraud, and heavier punitive damages where death or serious health harm results.

The Recall Regime: Sector Rules, Not One Statute

There is no single comprehensive recall regulation in force — a draft regulation has long circulated but has not been enacted. In practice recalls are governed by sector rules:

• Defective automobile products: the Regulation on the Recall of Defective Automobile Products (State Council Order No. 626, amended 2 March 2019) — the producer (including an importer treated as producer) bears the recall obligation and can be ordered to recall by the market regulator;
• General consumer goods: the Interim Provisions on the Recall of Consumer Goods (SAMR Order No. 19, in force 1 January 2020) — the producer is the recall subject; where a defect has caused or may cause death, serious injury or major loss (or a recall occurred abroad), the producer must report to the provincial regulator within 2 working days, with a 10-working-day objection window on a recall notice;
• Excluded categories (tobacco, motor vehicles, aircraft, ships, food, drugs, cosmetics, medical devices, pesticides) have their own specific rules.

Limitation Periods: A Genuine Ambiguity

Here the honest answer matters. The Product Quality Law provides a 2-year limitation period for defect claims, running from when the claimant knew or should have known of the harm, with a 10-year longstop from delivery of the defective product to the first consumer (unless a longer express safe-use period applies). The Civil Code sets a general 3-year period. Because the Civil Code also says "where another law provides otherwise, that law prevails", most authority treats the 2-year special period as continuing to apply — but courts are not uniform, and some apply 3 years. Check the prevailing judicial view for your specific case rather than assuming.

A Practical Playbook for Foreign Manufacturers and Exporters

1. Know whether you are the "producer" — importers are frequently treated as producers for recall purposes, which can pull a foreign brand's local entity into strict liability;
2. Treat a defect discovered after circulation seriously — Article 1206 turns inaction into expanded liability, and Article 1207 turns knowing conduct into punitive damages;
3. Meet recall deadlines — the 2-working-day report and the recall-notice objection window are unforgiving;
4. Keep conformity evidence — standards compliance and pre-circulation testing are your defense to the "defect existed at circulation" question;
5. Watch the law — the Product Quality Law revision and the comprehensive recall regulation remain in draft; re-check before relying on current article numbers.

For the litigation mechanics behind a product claim, see The Process and Time Required for Trials in Chinese Courts, or contact us to discuss a specific exposure.

How Tianni Law Firm Can Help

Tianni Law Firm (江苏天倪律师事务所), based in Nanjing, Jiangsu, advises foreign manufacturers and exporters on product liability exposure in China. Our work includes pre-circulation compliance review, recall response and regulator communications, defense of product-liability claims, and negotiation of settlements with injured parties and their insurers.