Challenges and Regulatory Pathways for Algorithmic Price Discrimination - A Case Study of China with Comparative International Perspectives -

With the rapid development of e-commerce platforms and livestream shopping as emerging consumption models, consumers’ shopping methods have become increasingly diverse and convenient, significantly enhancing the consumption experience. However, 'in the digital transaction environment, information asymmetry issues within platforms have become increasingly prominent, seriously affecting transaction fairness. Among these issues, algorithmic price discrimination and false advertising implemented by platforms are most typical. Algorithmic price discrimination is highly covert and technical in nature; consumers often find it difficult to detect when their rights are infringed and face substantial evidentiary challenges, thereby exacerbating practical barriers to legal remedies. Meanwhile, due to the complexity of algorithmic logic and frequent dynamic adjustments, how to achieve effective and precise legal regulation has become an urgent issue at both legislative and enforcement levels. Based on an in-depth analysis of the inadequacies in China's current legal system's response mechanisms to algorithmic price discrimination, this article conducts comparative research on regulatory practices in the European Union and the United States, exploring their institutional experiences in antitrust law, consumer protection law, and data governance dimensions. It further proposes legal regulatory pathways and governance framework recommendations tailored to China's national conditions, aiming to provide theoretical support and institutional references for the standardization and transparent governance of algorithmic pricing behaviors in China's platform economy context.