Overview
- Beijing's market regulator summoned Taobao/Tmall, JD, Pinduoduo, Douyin and Xiaohongshu and on Thursday publicly listed common problems including false or unclear promotion claims, nonstandard or undisclosed promotion rules, and failure to publish seller identities.
- Officials found that the high‑profile “百亿补贴” or “100‑billion” subsidy label is a long‑running marketing tag rather than a verifiable, time‑bound fund and platforms repeatedly refused to provide actual subsidy amounts or the split between platform and merchant payments.
- Regulators flagged concrete rule flaws such as Pinduoduo disclaiming product liability while only offering ‘assistance,’ Xiaohongshu treating continued participation as consent to rule changes, and multiple platforms not posting clear activity rules or seller qualifications.
- Authorities ordered immediate, comprehensive self‑inspections, prompt rectification of noncompliant 6·18 promotion rules and pledged ongoing dynamic monitoring under the 'involution' remediation mechanism, with specific enforcement outcomes still pending.
- The action follows repeated national warnings since February and parallel Shenzhen guidance to 60+ platforms; regulators warned that nontransparent big‑budget promotions can force merchants to bear costs, squeeze margins and weaken product quality and service over time.