Changning District pioneers prepaid fund supervision platform

On the first working day of the Year of the Snake on February 5, Skatemeta Club, as one of the first eight businesses, officially joined the prepaid fund supervision platform under the guidance of the Changning Notary Office.

In recent years, the prepaid consumption sector has been plagued by chaos, with many institutions shutting down and frequent incidents of "running away with money," severely affecting consumer confidence and the healthy development of the market.

To address this, the District Sports Bureau and the District Justice Bureau established the city's first "notarized escrow" prepaid fund supervision platform for the fitness industry in June 2024, using the notary office as a "safe deposit box" to legally secure consumers' prepaid funds.

The prepaid fund supervision platform launched by Changning District allows all procedures to be handled online. Businesses can conveniently manage fund notarization and escrow, consumers can check service progress at any time, and key steps are automatically recorded using blockchain technology to ensure transparency and traceability in the consumption process.

In case of refund disputes, the platform assembles professional mediators and arbitration institutions to quickly resolve issues through an online "mediate first, arbitrate later" channel, addressing conflicts before they escalate into complaints.

Since the platform's launch, 12 businesses in sectors such as fitness and education have joined, overseeing the signing of over 300 prepaid contracts and supervising more than 300,000 yuan (US$41,265) in prepaid funds, ensuring safe transactions in over 1,100 prepaid scenarios. Additionally, nine businesses have signed intention agreements with the Changning Notary Office and are awaiting platform integration.

While addressing consumer concerns about prepaid fees, Changning District also focuses on meeting the development needs of enterprises, striving to create a fair competitive market environment.

On September 26, 2024, Changning District awarded the first comprehensive license for a foreign-funded shopping center in the country to Cindy Andersen, global president of Ingka Shopping Centers. This license integrates multiple permits, including public health, public gathering space usage, and pre-opening fire safety inspections.

In the new year, Changning is set to launch the business environment 8.0 action plan, intensifying efforts in areas such as administrative inspections for enterprises, data element applications, and support for overseas business operations.