Sanya seafood store punished for cheating patrons

A seafood store in Sanya, South China's Hainan province, was fined 300,000 yuan ($41,418) on Wednesday for cheating customers.

After buying seafood at a processing plaza for laid-off workers on Tuesday evening, a customer weighed the products with his own scale and discovered the store's dishonesty. He then called the 12345 government service hotline to complain. The city's law enforcement officers immediately contacted the customer and rushed to the scene to carry out an investigation.

The seafood store was found to have intentionally added the weight of the basket in order to charge more.

The city's law enforcement department ordered the plaza to clear out the store and fined the proprietors 300,000 yuan. The plaza was also fined 100,000 yuan for managerial negligence and was ordered to suspend its business for rectification.

Sanya's market supervision administration said it will strengthen order in the city's tourism market.

"We have zero tolerance for illegal business activities, and will investigate and punish all kinds of behaviors that infringe on the legitimate rights of consumers. We won't allow a few bad merchants to disrupt order in Sanya," the administration said in a notice issued on the outcome of the case.