Baota District: Special Supervision and Inspection Campaign on E-commerce Platforms

In order to further regulate the order of the online transaction market within its jurisdiction, the Baota District Administration for Market Regulation recently leveraged its core responsibilities in online market supervision. In coordination with dedicated online monitoring personnel from local market regulation offices, it carried out a special supervision and inspection campaign targeting major e-commerce platforms operating in the district, including Meituan, Taobao Flash Purchase, Douyin, Jindong and others. The campaign aimed to strengthen supervision over the entire chain of online transactions and continuously purify the online business environment within the jurisdiction.

The inspection adopted a work approach of prioritising pre-enforcement legal education, followed by inspections and precise control. The enforcement officers first provided training on newly issued regulations to the representatives responsible for each platform, focusing on the interpretation of the newly implemented Measures for the Supervision and Administration of Rules of Online Trading Platforms and the Measures for the Supervision and Administration of Livestream E-commerce. The officers clarified compliance standards and regulatory requirements item by item. This helped platforms better understand the boundaries of their business operations, fully implement relevant policy requirements, and strengthen the foundation for regular compliance management.

After the regulatory training, the officers focused on the entire operational process of platforms and the complete chain of regulatory responsibilities. They conducted targeted inspections across seven key areas, including business qualification filings, regular training of personnel, implementation of regulatory systems, closed-loop control of food delivery, qualification reviews of online merchants, online food safety management, and compliant livestream marketing operations, in order to accurately identify various risks and hidden problems in online business activities.

During the inspection process, the officers focused on two core aspects: the implementation of platform management systems and the fulfilment of responsibilities by merchant entities. They carried out targeted actions to address prominent issues in the online transaction sector and focused on three key regulatory tasks:

·First, strictly controlling market entry and preventing risks at the source.
The authorities strictly verified whether platforms had implemented closed-loop management measures, including real-name registration of merchants and retention of electronic records. Particular attention was given to investigating and rectifying frequent violations such as “ghost food delivery operations”, misuse of a single licence by multiple businesses, and business operations conducted through unauthorised affiliations. These measures aimed to establish a strong foundation for online food safety and transaction security from the source.

·Second, standardising information disclosure and ensuring traceability.
Platforms were urged to require all online merchants to fully display qualification information, including business licences, food operation permits, and images verifying the actual physical premises, in prominent locations such as store homepages and ordering interfaces. This ensured that qualification information was transparent, authentic, and effective. At the same time, platforms were required to establish dynamic qualification verification mechanisms to ensure that merchants’ online disclosure information remained synchronised and fully consistent with their actual offline operating qualifications.

·Third, strengthening livestream supervision and addressing regulatory gaps in emerging business models.
The authorities conducted detailed reviews of livestream operation records, registration information of livestream hosts, and records of handling violations. They strictly investigated illegal activities such as livestream sales conducted without required qualifications, livestream promotion of prohibited products, and false advertising relating to food and pharmaceutical products.

Regarding the issues identified during the inspection, the officers reviewed and summarised them on site, established lists of problems, specified deadlines for rectification, and assigned corresponding responsibilities. Platforms were ordered to immediately correct and carry out comprehensive rectification measures.

At the same time, platforms were urged to strictly fulfil their responsibilities for reviewing and controlling online merchants throughout the entire process, regularly organise specialised training on compliant merchant operations and standardised livestream practices, improve management systems for personnel, and establish standardised records for the disinfection and management of delivery equipment.

For the next step, the Baota District Administration for Market Regulation will establish a long-term regulatory mechanism combining regular inspections and special inspection campaigns. It will continue to focus on the fulfilment of responsibilities by both e-commerce platforms and online merchants, deepen integrated online and offline supervision.

Source:https://scjg.yanan.gov.cn/ztzl/djqq/2070307741507489794.html