China Orders Delivery Apps to Verify 67,000 Ghost Kitchens Under New Licensing Rules
Updated
Updated · BBC.com · Jun 2
China Orders Delivery Apps to Verify 67,000 Ghost Kitchens Under New Licensing Rules
8 articles · Updated · BBC.com · Jun 2
New rules effective Monday require Chinese food-delivery apps to verify merchants’ licenses and operating addresses, match listings to physical stores, and label outlets that do not offer dine-in service.
A Beijing cake complaint helped trigger the crackdown after investigators found one chain had nearly 380 online locations but no physical store, forged licenses, and outsourced orders through low-bid third-party vendors.
Xinhua said officials uncovered 67,000 ghost shops across seven major platforms and 3.6 million cake orders routed through two order-transfer platforms, describing an illegal supply chain enabled by platform competition.
The move extends Beijing’s broader cleanup of the delivery sector after regulators in April fined seven e-commerce platforms 3.6 billion yuan, while some merchants and local authorities are adding live-streamed kitchens, AI monitoring and rider whistleblower rewards.
With AI monitoring kitchens, can China's delivery apps finally guarantee food safety and regain consumer trust?
Is China's new supply chain law a food safety tool or a hidden risk for foreign firms' due diligence?
As fines now target executives personally, will platform giants sacrifice growth for the sake of genuine compliance?