Nike fined in Beijing for double standards

U.S. sportswear giant Nike has been fined nearly 4.9 million yuan by the Beijing Administration for Industry and Commerce for applying double standards in its treatment of Chinese and foreign consumers, the administration said on Oct. 24. This is the first time that a company has been fined in China for adopting double standards.

Liu Jian, deputy director and spokesperson for the administration, said that one of the major selling points of a model of Nike's basketball shoes selling for 1,299 yuan is that it has two air cushions. However, this model of shoes sold in China for the same price only has one air cushion, not two cushions as advertised or as sold elsewhere.

"Nike sets double standards for products in the Chinese and foreign markets. The municipal administration for industry and commerce will absolutely not tolerate such behavior," Liu said, adding that the administration immediately launched an investigation after discovering such behavior.

Although Nike quickly confirmed after being accused of adopting double standards that the Chinese version only has one cushion and agreed to give refunds to affected consumers, the administration still decided to fine the company nearly 4.9 million yuan for its deceptive and discriminative practice.

Total fines in past four years reach 1 billion yuan

The Beijing Administration for Industry and Commerce has handled nearly 80,000 cases, and fined 960 million yuan since 2008.

Of the nearly 80,000 cases, there are 319 commercial bribery cases involving fines of nearly 58.5 million yuan, 9,537 trademark cases involving fines of 116 million yuan, and 2,701 cases concerning the protection of consumers' rights and interests which involve fines of nearly 19.5 million yuan. Furthermore, the administration also solved the Mengginghua illegal fund-raising case involving funds of 228 million yuan and more than 3,000 suspects, and the Yilin pyramid selling case involving funds of 1.6 billion yuan and as many as 20,000 people across China.