The State Administration for Market Regulation of China announced on July 31 that it would pilot an electronic license verification system in the online food and beverage sector. It will issue tamper-proof and highly counterfeit-resistant 'electronic IDs' to delivery franchisees, fundamentally preventing unqualified stores from operating online. The administration also announced the 'Supervision and Management Regulations on the Fulfillment of Food Safety Subject Responsibility by Online Food Service Operators' in June.

According to statistics, China's delivery market is expected to reach 1.4 trillion yuan (approximately 32.8 trillion yen). As of the end of 2024, the number of online delivery users has already reached 592 million. Amidst this, malicious operators without qualifications or physical stores are operating by forging qualifications and other methods, impersonating legitimate stores on delivery platforms. In China, these are referred to as 'Youling Waimai' (Ghost Delivery).

To ensure the food safety of citizens and maintain the business environment, relevant departments in China are continuously rolling out policies to crack down on this phenomenon.

In April this year, the State Administration for Market Regulation of China imposed administrative penalties on a series of 'Youling Waimai' incidents across seven e-commerce platforms, totaling 3.597 billion yuan (approximately 84.2385 billion yen) in fines and confiscations. This was the highest penalty imposed on delivery platforms since the enforcement of China's 'Food Safety Law'. It is said that over 67,000 'ghost stores' related to cake products alone were involved in this incident.

Local governments are also encouraging the participation of delivery riders in supervision. During the Spring Festival period, relevant departments in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, established a reporting system called 'Suishoupai' (Easy Photo Taking) and called on all riders in the city to register. If riders discover hygiene issues in the kitchen or licensing problems when picking up products at stores, they can take photos and report them at any time, and receive a small cash reward if the information is verified. Subsequently, Zhejiang Province, Beijing Municipality, and other regions have successively announced similar measures.

An official from the State Administration for Market Regulation of China explained that the newly introduced electronic licenses will help advance supervision from traditional post-incident detection to proactive prevention, and simultaneously realize collaborative management by stakeholders through smart methods. Relevant departments will continue to strengthen crackdowns on food safety issues and will never overlook violations. (Provided by/CGTN Japanese)