What is the legislative purpose of China's e-commerce law?

1 The principle of technology neutrality refers to that the government or legislature adopts a neutral attitude towards all kinds of technologies, software and media related to e-commerce, and the actual e-commerce practitioners and information service intermediaries choose to adopt new technologies or technologies that are in line with international standards according to technological development. The government should be impartial and encourage the adoption and popularization of new technologies. Only in this way can we establish an open and global legal environment for the operation of e-commerce. E-commerce law aims to provide necessary procedures and principles to facilitate the use of modern technology to record and transmit information in various situations. However, in the process of drafting e-commerce law, no technical means should be emphasized. For example, e-commerce law should not determine that a computer technology is equivalent to any written document; On the contrary, e-commerce law only needs to put forward written form requirements as the basic function of standards. Any data message, no matter what technology is adopted, once it meets these standards, it can enjoy the same degree of legal recognition as the corresponding written document with the same function. The principle of technology neutrality also means that e-commerce legislation must consider the rapid development trend of information technology, leave room for the adoption of new technologies, or should not exclude the adoption of new technologies to adapt to the new development of electronic technologies and e-commerce models. 2. Respect for the principle of party autonomy and market orientation The so-called principle of party autonomy and market orientation means that e-commerce law should respect the principle of party autonomy and market orientation, and consumers should be able to freely buy and sell goods or services on online banking services with the lowest degree of government intervention. This principle can be understood from two aspects. (1) From the policy point of view, the state should take appropriate incentives to promote the popularization and application of e-commerce transaction forms. E-commerce needs legal regulation and government regulation. However, all these mandatory provisions are only to create a good legal environment and institutional guarantee for e-commerce. In particular, e-commerce is still a new thing, and many norms need to be explored and practiced. The state should encourage and respect market orientation. In terms of market access, we should lower the threshold of market access; In terms of taxation, enterprises should be encouraged to adopt e-commerce and actively seek new ways and methods of taxation. (2) From the perspective of legal norms, e-commerce law should leave room for the principle of party autonomy and industry autonomy as much as possible, while legal norms in some trading fields still emphasize guidance and arbitrariness, leaving sufficient room for parties to fully express and realize their wishes; Adhere to the principle of autonomy of private law in the field of law enforcement. As long as the existing laws do not prohibit it, it is allowed or not considered illegal. As long as the law is not mandatory, the arrangement between the parties is legal. This attitude is conducive to businesses constantly exploring the experience and habits of e-commerce operations and forming a mature code of conduct. 3. Systematization and systematization of the principle of necessity refer to the better implementation of laws in any country. A key requirement is that laws should be compatible with each other and form a perfect legal system. Similarly, the implementation of e-commerce law must be compatible and coordinated with other laws. On the other hand, if the existing laws create obstacles to the development of e-commerce, the existing laws should be amended. Therefore, e-commerce legislation not only means making new laws, but also means changing or abolishing these laws. For example, Germany's Law on Information and Communication Services amended the Law on the Use of Communication Services, the Law on the Protection of Personal Information of Communication Services, the Law on Electronic Signature, the Amendment to the Criminal Code, the Amendment to Administrative Violations, the Amendment to the Prohibition of Spreading Immoral Publications to Minors, the Amendment to the Copyright Law and the Amendment to the Price Marking Law. The principle of necessity means that the government should avoid making unnecessary legal rules for commercial activities through the Internet, and only initiate amendments when existing laws are necessary to affect the development of e-commerce; Only when the original laws can not regulate e-commerce activities, it is necessary to formulate new laws and regulations. The purpose of this principle is to build a bridge between e-commerce transactions and traditional trading methods. 4. The principle of functional equivalence was put forward in the Model Law on Electronic Commerce of the United Nations International Trade Commission in 1996, which means that data communication enjoys the same legal status and treatment as the corresponding paper documents with the same effect according to the different requirements of the law for paper documents. The existing laws are based on paper documents, and all kinds of information in e-commerce are stored in magnetic media. Once there are legal problems in e-commerce, when the existing laws are applied, because the information in magnetic media is different from paper documents, it is difficult to produce the same legal effect as paper documents, which brings difficulties and confusion to judicial practice. Therefore, e-commerce law should implement the principle of functional equivalence. The emergence of this principle has cleared the obstacles for the application of existing laws in e-commerce and provided strong legal support for the development of e-commerce. For example, e-commerce laws in various countries stipulate that electronic evidence enjoys the same legal status as traditional written evidence. 5. The principle of international coordination The so-called principle of international coordination means that all countries try their best to adopt a set of internationally accepted rules in the legislative process in order to remove obstacles in traditional laws and create a safer legal environment for e-commerce. E-commerce is a business model without geographical boundaries and national boundaries, so it needs to adopt unified rules more than traditional business activities. In this regard, the UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Commerce took the lead in establishing some basic principles and laid the foundation for the unification of the basic principles of electronic commerce legislation. In fact, many countries have adopted the basic principles of the Model Law in their legislation. Therefore, China's e-commerce legislation should also be as consistent as possible with the United Nations Model Law on E-commerce, which is conducive to the integration of China's e-commerce norms with the world. At the same time, absorbing the mature legislative experience of other international organizations and developed countries can not only avoid detours, but also reduce the friction and conflict of rules, so that our legislation can be integrated into the global e-commerce environment from the beginning. 6. The principle of protecting consumers' rights and interests The so-called principle of protecting consumers' rights and interests means that the guiding ideology is that the protection of consumers on the Internet cannot be limited to the protection of consumers in other environments. The state should provide a clear, consistent and predictable legal framework to promote the protection of all parties in online transactions. From the perspective of e-commerce legislation in various countries, the e-commerce legislation in the United States focuses on the solution of specific technologies and ignores the protection of consumers' rights and interests. In fact, because the United States is a case law country, the protection of consumers' rights and interests can be well solved. However, European countries focus on the protection of consumers' rights and interests when legislating e-commerce. Since most European countries belong to the civil law system, it is necessary to stipulate the protection of consumers' rights and interests when legislating e-commerce. China belongs to the continental law system. When legislating e-commerce, we should not only solve the technical problems of e-commerce, but also stipulate the protection of consumers' rights and interests. 7. Security Principle The so-called security principle refers to the establishment of security norms to guarantee e-commerce transactions, so that e-commerce can operate in a safe and fair legal environment. The basic goal of commercial law is to ensure the safety of commercial transactions, especially e-commerce law. E-commerce law operates in a virtual environment, and online transactions bring people efficiency as well as insecurity. Because online transactions are global and non-face-to-face transactions, and are based on electronic information or data messages, there are not only unsafe factors in the traditional legal environment, such as the inability of the other party to perform, but also unique risks, such as whether the two parties to the transaction really exist and how creditworthy they are. Therefore, e-commerce law has unique norms to ensure its transaction security, such as digital signature and identity authentication system. Security principle is the basis of mandatory legislation in e-commerce legislation. In the field of civil and commercial transactions, the reason why the law makes mandatory regulations on subject qualification, contract form and contract effectiveness is to ensure transaction safety. For example, the mandatory provisions on certification procedures and certification bodies, the supervision of online transaction format clauses, the supervision of online advertisements, and the provisions on the obligation of presentation in the process of conclusion are all aimed at protecting the security and fairness of transactions.