China suspends registration and approvals of direct selling

BEIJING, Feb. 14 -- China has suspended the registration and approvals of direct selling and cracked down on irregularities in the health product market, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said Thursday.

"We will carry out a thorough, nationwide investigation of the B2C industry," the MOC spokesperson Gao Feng told the press, adding that authorities would crack down on any illegal businesses to protect customer interests.

The MOC will also improve the regulation system, tighten market access and speed up building a credit-based monitoring system of direct selling, Gao said.

Last month, the State Administration for Market Regulation announced the launch of a nationwide campaign to crack down on irregularities in the health product market for more than three months.

The moves came after local authorities probed into Quanjian Nature Medicine Technology Development Co. Ltd., a Tianjin-based health product company in December last year, following an online accusation that the company had made exaggerated advertisements and was involved in a pyramid scheme.