Regulators cracking down on violators of consumer rights

Chinese regulators have launched a swift crackdown on businesses accused of violating consumer rights after the annual 3.15 Consumer Rights Gala exposed a range of illegal market activities, including food safety violations and artificial intelligence-driven harassment calls.

The gala, organized by China Media Group for more than three decades, has served as a powerful deterrent against corporate misconduct in China.

In response to the reported violations, the State Administration for Market Regulation, China's top market watchdog, said it conducted overnight inspections Saturday across nine provinces and regions and vowed strict penalties for offenders.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, which oversees China's telecom sector, said Sunday it had ordered regulators in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong province to investigate companies linked to illegal robocalls and lax enforcement of real-name registration for virtual network users.

The ministry said it would also direct telecom firms to shut down illegal phone lines and order internet platforms to remove listings for illicit automated calling software.

This year's gala exposed multiple violations, including maternal and infant brands selling repackaged defective products, unsterilized bare-hand production of disposable underwear, shrimp laced with excessive phosphate-based water-retention agents, a black-market industry profiting from harassing phone calls, and the sale of nonstandard electrical wires and cables in hardware markets.

Food safety was a key focus. Authorities in Yancheng, Jiangsu province, uncovered multiple seafood producers using excessive phosphate-based water-retention agents, an illegal practice that artificially inflates shrimp weight by up to 20 percent.

On Sunday, the market regulator announced that a national food safety reporting system will come into force in May.

China has intensified consumer protection efforts in recent years. Last year, the market regulator handled 39.24 million consumer complaints and reports online, recovering 5.16 billion yuan ($713 million) for affected consumers.

"The 3.15 gala doesn't just expose violations — it forces companies and regulators to act," said Wang Peng, a researcher at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences.