“Ghost shops” and “ghost livestream rooms” head the list of risks that China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (国家市场监督管理总局, SAMR) wants e-commerce platforms to prevent during Double 11. The regulator has sent major platform companies an eight-point compliance notice covering prices, advertising, livestreaming and returns, it said on 6 November.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Issuing body | State Administration for Market Regulation (国家市场监督管理总局) |
| Document | Compliance notice on concentrated online promotions for Double 11 (《”双十一”网络集中促销合规提示》) |
| Announced | 6 November 2026 |
| Addressed to | Major platform companies |
| Scope | Concentrated online promotional activity around Double 11 |
| Number of points | 8 |
SAMR said the notice is meant to further regulate promotions on e-commerce platforms, keep online trading fair and orderly, and benefit all parties involved. Its eight points run from vetting sellers to reporting violations to regulators.
Platforms must clear out sellers that have lost their licences
The first point restates platforms’ legal duty to verify and register the qualifications of sellers on their sites and to publish that information. Sellers whose qualifications have been revoked, cancelled or withdrawn should be dealt with and removed promptly.
SAMR named “ghost shops” (幽灵店铺) and “ghost livestream rooms” (幽灵直播间) as the problem this is meant to prevent.
Self-checks on price wars and raise-then-cut discounts
Platforms are told to organise self-checks on “price competing” (拼价格) and on raising prices before cutting them (先涨价后降价). The aim, the notice says, is to end failures to mark prices clearly as required, along with price fraud and other conduct that harms consumers.
Promotion rules should also be improved and displayed prominently, so that consumers can hold platforms to them. A separate point asks platforms to compete fairly and resist unfair competition. They must take active steps during the promotion to stop fake transactions and order brushing used to inflate ratings (刷单炒信).
Food, drug and medical-device ads get closer review
On advertising, SAMR wants platforms to tighten the registration, review and record-keeping of ad business and raise the standard of their ad checks. Ads for medical services, drugs, medical devices and food are singled out, and illegal marketing claims should be removed quickly.
Livestreaming has its own point. Platforms should step up review and monitoring of hosts and their business, and watch for fake “village officials” (山寨村干部), false claims of helping farmers, fake product tests and illegal foreign domestic-worker services.
The notice also asks platforms to control the quality of goods sold in livestreams and to monitor broadcasts so that hosts do not break the law on air.
Counterfeits, recalled goods and uncertified products to be restricted
Product controls form the sixth point. Platforms should strictly apply their rules for problem goods. Counterfeit and shoddy products, “three-no” products (三无产品), products that failed official spot checks and recalled defective consumer goods should be banned or restricted promptly.
Selling products that do not meet administrative licensing, compulsory product certification or mandatory national standards is strictly prohibited.
Seven-day returns and merchants’ autonomy
Platforms are to make sure sellers follow the rule allowing online purchases to be returned within seven days without a reason, and to handle consumer disputes properly. They must also respect merchants’ right to run their own business, without imposing unreasonable restrictions, conditions or fees.
The same point asks platforms to keep channels for complaints open and to protect the legal rights of delivery riders who take orders through them.
The last point concerns cooperation with regulators. When platforms find violations, they should report them promptly to the market regulator at county level or above where they are based, and help with investigations into sellers on their sites.
Coming up · We may follow up with official figures from regulators and platforms once the Double 11 period closes.
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