Over 45 million yuan dedicated to health industry crackdown

Nearly 300 investigations into illegality in the health industry have been launched since a three-month national crackdown started on Jan 8, the State Administration for Market Regulation said on Wednesday.

The amount of money involved in these probes has reached over 45 million yuan ($6.7 million), said Yan Jun, head of the administration's department in charge of price supervision, at a news conference.

He said over 300 pieces of online news spreading fake health product promotions have been removed, and 130 websites, apps and social media accounts have been shut down.

Thirteen central government departments, including the top market regulator, launched the nationwide campaign following a series of media reports in the past month exposing irregularities in the health industry.

Authorities on Jan 7 detained 18 suspects on charges of pyramid selling and false advertising related to the Tianjin-based Quanjian Nature Medicine Technology Department. Senior executives of another health company in Hebei province were also detained on Jan 16 on suspicion of organizing pyramid schemes.

Yan said during the campaign, about 54,000 inspectors have been dispatched to scour 4,200 communities, parks and squares, 2,500 key areas comprising tourist attractions, rural markets and urban-rural fringes, and 2,600 hotels.

"The campaign has so far handled 1,100 complaints from consumers and retrieved property worth 8.4 million yuan for them," he said.

Yan added that the next phase of the campaign will focus on areas likely to feature promotions of health products, such as public parks, and target stores attempting to mislead the elderly and the sick.

"We will also formulate new systems to encourage and reward whistleblowers," he added.