Large-scale Consumer Protection Framework Accelerates Construction; Guangdong Takes Lead in Building Three-Tier Linkage Mechanism for Financial Dispute Resolution

Since the State Financial Supervision and Administration Bureau proposed to accelerate the development of a “Great Consumer Protection” framework, the protection of financial consumers’ rights and interests has been elevated to an unprecedented level. For some time, financial regulatory authorities have continuously improved institutional rules, pushing financial consumer protection work toward a more rigorous, detailed, practical, and proactive direction.

In March 2025, the National Financial Regulatory Bureau, People’s Bank of China, and China Securities Regulatory Commission jointly issued the “Opinions on Promoting High-Quality Development of Financial Dispute Mediation,” clearly stating, “Prioritize non-litigation dispute resolution mechanisms and promote financial dispute mediation organizations to carry out mediation work lawfully and with high quality.”

Southern Finance reporters noted that after the issuance of these opinions, regions such as Beijing, Chongqing, and Guangdong actively promoted the construction of diversified financial dispute resolution mechanisms, pushing forward the establishment and optimization of a number of specialized financial consumer protection mediation organizations.

As a pioneering region in financial consumer protection work, Guangdong has achieved another milestone in this field. Recently, the Guangdong Financial Dispute Mediation Joint Committee was officially established, forming a new pattern of financial dispute mediation characterized by “one provincial organization leading, coverage of 20 cities and counties, and accessible services across the entire region,” becoming another important practice demonstrating Guangdong’s leadership and exemplary role in advancing consumer protection work.

Source: Photo by Reporter Liang Yuanhao

Leading the Creation of a Three-Tiered Dispute Resolution Mechanism

Financial conflicts and disputes often have long cycles and complex situations. When the legitimate rights and interests of financial consumers are infringed, it is especially crucial to streamline channels for their rights to be remedied.

To address this challenge, Guangdong took the lead nationwide in exploring solutions. Under the guidance of financial regulatory departments, it established a number of social organizations focused on protecting financial consumer rights, bringing together financial institutions and professionals from the finance and legal sectors, such as the Guangdong Financial Consumer Rights Protection Union and the Guangdong Zhenghe Consumer Protection Center.

Among them, the Guangdong Financial Consumer Rights Protection Union was officially established in December 2014 under the guidance of the former Guangzhou branch of the People’s Bank of China and the Guangdong Financial Office. It is the first provincial-level social organization in China dedicated to financial consumer rights protection, and it set up the Guangzhou Financial Dispute Mediation Center.

The Guangdong Zhenghe Consumer Protection Center, established in April 2021, is the first private non-enterprise organization in Guangdong dedicated to mediating disputes in banking and insurance industries and protecting consumer rights. Its supervising authority is the Guangdong Financial Regulatory Bureau.

In recent years, these and other financial consumer protection mediation organizations have actively promoted financial knowledge dissemination, assisted consumers and small investors in legally safeguarding their rights, and shared good practices in the field, laying a solid foundation for the orderly advancement of financial consumer protection in Guangdong. Data shows that in 2025, nearly 100,000 financial dispute mediation cases were handled across the region, with successful mediation agreements totaling over 4.1 billion yuan.

Recently, the Guangdong Financial Dispute Mediation Organization Integration and Reorganization Conference was successfully held, and the Guangdong Financial Dispute Mediation Union (hereinafter referred to as “Provincial Mediation Union”) was officially established. This union was formed through the integration of the former Guangdong Zhenghe Consumer Protection Center, the Guangdong Financial Consumer Rights Protection Union, and the Guangzhou Financial Dispute Mediation Center.

Industry insiders learned that a major background for this integration was that, following institutional reforms, the People’s Bank of China no longer maintains the Financial Consumer Rights Protection Bureau. Instead, the National Financial Regulatory Bureau now oversees financial consumer protection work, including formulating development plans and policies, improving the rights protection system, and conducting financial consumer education.

According to the Guangdong Financial Regulatory Bureau, the bureau has efficiently completed the transfer of supervisory relationships for mediation organizations under the original People’s Bank system, scientifically planned and determined the integration and reorganization of mediation organizations across the region, and completed the change of supervisory units for 21 mediation organizations, establishing a three-level, all-encompassing network of provincial, city, and county mediation organizations.

Specifically, at the provincial level, Guangdong will merge the Zhenghe Consumer Protection Center, the Guangdong Financial Consumer Rights Protection Union, and the Guangzhou Mediation Center into the Guangdong Financial Dispute Mediation Union, serving as the core provincial mediation body to coordinate all financial dispute mediation work across the region.

At the city level, integrated banking and insurance mediation organizations will be established, adopting a social organization model, with local city mediation organizations serving as members of the Provincial Mediation Union and conducting business under a unified system.

At the county level, city mediation organizations will set up mediation workstations, dispatch personnel for巡回调解 (巡回调解), or conduct online mediations, forming a new three-tiered, interconnected dispute resolution framework characterized by “one provincial organization leading, full coverage of 20 cities, and accessible services at the county level.”

Additionally, Guangdong has integrated over 2,000 full-time and part-time mediators, including senior executives, industry experts, and lawyers, forming a professional and diverse mediation team. The region also emphasizes ongoing training to enhance mediators’ dispute resolution capabilities.

Transforming from “Single Channel” to “Multi-Party Co-Governance”

Beyond streamlining the relationships among mediation organizations at all levels, Guangdong is also actively promoting the professionalization and refinement of mediation services, shifting from a “single channel” approach to a “multi-party co-governance” model to improve grassroots governance efficiency. Key measures include optimizing mediation mechanisms, standardizing procedures, expanding service channels, and strengthening digital and intelligent empowerment.

For example, in optimizing mediation mechanisms, Guangdong has established a “small-amount quick resolution” system, developed standards for credit card negotiation and repayment disputes, and created a protocol for mediating disputes with small amounts and clear facts. Mediators can directly propose solutions within their authority, with credit card disputes being resolved in as little as three days.

In expanding service channels, the Provincial Mediation Union has set up 25 mediation workstations covering courts, financial institutions, industry associations, traffic management offices, and other scenarios, creating a physical network of dispute resolution points to address the “last mile” of conflict resolution. It also established a “four-in-one” online, telephone, letter, and visit-based mediation acceptance channel to meet consumers’ 24/7 mediation requests.

Furthermore, Guangdong leverages digital transformation by building a smart platform and multi-dimensional data support, creating a connected digital service network that enables “one-network acceptance, hierarchical resolution, and full-process tracking” of disputes. Currently, the Provincial Mediation Union’s digital consumer protection platform has extended to 19 city-level mediation organizations and directly connects with the Guangdong Financial Regulatory Bureau’s smart consumer protection platform. All 20 mediation organizations across the region are integrated into the financial consumer protection service platform.

To build a multi-party co-governance dispute resolution system, Guangdong promotes multi-sector collaboration and complementary advantages. For instance, the Guangdong Financial Regulatory Bureau, People’s Bank of China Guangdong Branch, and Guangdong Securities Regulatory Bureau have signed cooperation memoranda and held joint regulatory meetings for three consecutive years. The financial regulatory authorities also strengthen cooperation with judicial, market supervision, and cybersecurity departments to clean up and regulate the financial market environment and improve dispute resolution efficiency.

Guangdong’s Financial Regulatory Bureau stated that the next step will be to use the integration and reorganization of financial dispute mediation organizations as a new starting point to build the “Guangdong Model” for financial dispute resolution. This includes further improving multi-channel dispute resolution mechanisms, optimizing mediation systems, online platforms, and expert mediator teams to form a unified provincial mediation pattern.

It will also deepen governance over illegal intermediaries in the financial sector, consolidate and expand special rectification results, improve information sharing and cooperation mechanisms among departments, and jointly address issues such as online ecosystems, harassing calls, and spam messages.

Meanwhile, Guangdong will focus on key areas, implementing multiple measures to strengthen the resolution of prominent issues such as life insurance policy cancellations, credit card complaints, and auto insurance claims, holding institutions accountable, and promoting the implementation of the “Measures for the Management of Suitability of Financial Institution Products.”