Pinduoduo Fined the Most in 'Ghost Delivery' Case, Cited for Violent Resistance Against Regulators
China's SAMR fined 7 e-commerce platforms a total of 3.59 billion RMB for allowing "ghost" food delivery stores. Pinduoduo received the heaviest fine of 1.52 billion RMB due to violent obstruction of the investigation.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: April 18, 2026 at 19:28
- 🔍 Collected: April 18, 2026 at 20:01 (33 min after Published)
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 18, 2026 at 21:29 (1h 27m after Collected)
Central News Agency
(Central News Agency, Taipei, 18th) China's State Administration for Market Regulation yesterday announced administrative penalty decisions against 7 e-commerce platforms in a series of "ghost delivery" cases. Among them, Pinduoduo topped the list with a fine of 1.522 billion RMB, receiving the heaviest penalty. The administrative penalty decision mentioned that during the investigation, Pinduoduo used violence and soft resistance to obstruct regulatory law enforcement.
Mainland media Caixin reported previously that on December 3, 2025, personnel from the Shanghai Municipal Administration for Market Regulation, referred by the State Administration for Market Regulation, went to Pinduoduo's Shanghai headquarters to investigate. This escalated into a physical conflict between the two sides, and the market regulation personnel called the police. The authorities subsequently detained several Pinduoduo employees for obstructing official duties. Afterwards, Pinduoduo fired multiple employees, but still faced an expanded investigation by regulatory authorities.
The State Administration for Market Regulation announced on the 17th that it has made administrative penalty decisions on the "ghost delivery" series of cases involving 7 e-commerce platforms: Pinduoduo, Meituan, JD, Taobao Flash Delivery, Douyin, Taobao, and Tmall. It ordered the 7 platforms to correct their illegal acts, suspended the addition of new cake shops for 3 to 9 months, and imposed fines and confiscations totaling 3.597 billion RMB (about 16.6 billion NTD).
The Chinese regulatory authorities targeted tens of thousands of "ghost stores" that subcontracted cake delivery orders at low prices. As a result, consumers spent high prices for cheap, poor-quality cakes with food safety concerns.
The administrative penalty decision released by the State Administration for Market Regulation showed that Pinduoduo topped the list with a fine of 1.522 billion RMB, followed by Meituan at 740 million RMB, JD at 630 million RMB, Ele.me at 550 million RMB, Douyin at 56.89 million RMB, Taobao at 46.97 million RMB, and Tmall at 31.74 million RMB.
The administrative penalty decision showed that among the decorated cake operators on the Pinduoduo platform, 4,522 did not upload food business licenses; 4,941 uploaded licenses whose permitted scope did not include decorated cakes. Pinduoduo failed to fulfill its legal obligation to review the qualifications of these 9,463 food operators, allowing them to enter the platform and conduct food business activities, involving a transaction amount of approximately 97.0893 million RMB and illegal proceeds of 5.8416 million RMB.
At the same time, the authorized order transfer platform allowed merchants to transfer orders to process food with one click without informing consumers, infringing on the right to know and food safety, resulting in illegal proceeds of 8,664.24 RMB.
The administrative penalty decision mentioned, "During the investigation of this case, our bureau issued the 'Notice to Provide Materials within a Time Limit' and 'Notice to Order Correction' multiple times. The party involved repeatedly refused to provide relevant materials and information without justifiable reasons, or provided false materials and information, and even used means such as violence and soft resistance to obstruct regulatory law enforcement."
The aforementioned violent resistance to supervision only occurred with Pinduoduo among the 7 e-commerce platforms penalized in the same case.
Pinduoduo's heavy fine of 1.522 billion RMB was largely calculated based on a "fine of 160,000 RMB for each store where the qualification review obligation was not fulfilled." The penalty involved a total of 9,463 violating stores, resulting in a heavy fine of 1.51408 billion RMB for this part.
China's State Administration for Market Regulation based the fines ranging from 10,000 to 160,000 RMB per ghost store on factors such as whether the store had transactions and the size of the transaction amounts. Pinduoduo was given the maximum penalty of 160,000 RMB per store.
Compared to other platforms, although they also had dereliction of duty in qualification reviews, their fines per store were far lower than 160,000 RMB because they were relatively more cooperative during the investigation. (Editor: Yang Sheng-ju / Chen Yen-chun) 1150418
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(Central News Agency, Taipei, 18th) China's State Administration for Market Regulation yesterday announced administrative penalty decisions against 7 e-commerce platforms in a series of "ghost delivery" cases. Among them, Pinduoduo topped the list with a fine of 1.522 billion RMB, receiving the heaviest penalty. The administrative penalty decision mentioned that during the investigation, Pinduoduo used violence and soft resistance to obstruct regulatory law enforcement.
Mainland media Caixin reported previously that on December 3, 2025, personnel from the Shanghai Municipal Administration for Market Regulation, referred by the State Administration for Market Regulation, went to Pinduoduo's Shanghai headquarters to investigate. This escalated into a physical conflict between the two sides, and the market regulation personnel called the police. The authorities subsequently detained several Pinduoduo employees for obstructing official duties. Afterwards, Pinduoduo fired multiple employees, but still faced an expanded investigation by regulatory authorities.
The State Administration for Market Regulation announced on the 17th that it has made administrative penalty decisions on the "ghost delivery" series of cases involving 7 e-commerce platforms: Pinduoduo, Meituan, JD, Taobao Flash Delivery, Douyin, Taobao, and Tmall. It ordered the 7 platforms to correct their illegal acts, suspended the addition of new cake shops for 3 to 9 months, and imposed fines and confiscations totaling 3.597 billion RMB (about 16.6 billion NTD).
The Chinese regulatory authorities targeted tens of thousands of "ghost stores" that subcontracted cake delivery orders at low prices. As a result, consumers spent high prices for cheap, poor-quality cakes with food safety concerns.
The administrative penalty decision released by the State Administration for Market Regulation showed that Pinduoduo topped the list with a fine of 1.522 billion RMB, followed by Meituan at 740 million RMB, JD at 630 million RMB, Ele.me at 550 million RMB, Douyin at 56.89 million RMB, Taobao at 46.97 million RMB, and Tmall at 31.74 million RMB.
The administrative penalty decision showed that among the decorated cake operators on the Pinduoduo platform, 4,522 did not upload food business licenses; 4,941 uploaded licenses whose permitted scope did not include decorated cakes. Pinduoduo failed to fulfill its legal obligation to review the qualifications of these 9,463 food operators, allowing them to enter the platform and conduct food business activities, involving a transaction amount of approximately 97.0893 million RMB and illegal proceeds of 5.8416 million RMB.
At the same time, the authorized order transfer platform allowed merchants to transfer orders to process food with one click without informing consumers, infringing on the right to know and food safety, resulting in illegal proceeds of 8,664.24 RMB.
The administrative penalty decision mentioned, "During the investigation of this case, our bureau issued the 'Notice to Provide Materials within a Time Limit' and 'Notice to Order Correction' multiple times. The party involved repeatedly refused to provide relevant materials and information without justifiable reasons, or provided false materials and information, and even used means such as violence and soft resistance to obstruct regulatory law enforcement."
The aforementioned violent resistance to supervision only occurred with Pinduoduo among the 7 e-commerce platforms penalized in the same case.
Pinduoduo's heavy fine of 1.522 billion RMB was largely calculated based on a "fine of 160,000 RMB for each store where the qualification review obligation was not fulfilled." The penalty involved a total of 9,463 violating stores, resulting in a heavy fine of 1.51408 billion RMB for this part.
China's State Administration for Market Regulation based the fines ranging from 10,000 to 160,000 RMB per ghost store on factors such as whether the store had transactions and the size of the transaction amounts. Pinduoduo was given the maximum penalty of 160,000 RMB per store.
Compared to other platforms, although they also had dereliction of duty in qualification reviews, their fines per store were far lower than 160,000 RMB because they were relatively more cooperative during the investigation. (Editor: Yang Sheng-ju / Chen Yen-chun) 1150418
Stand with the facts, every sponsorship from you is the power to guard press freedom.
Download the Central News Agency "First Hand News" APP to grasp the latest news instantly.
The text, images, and audio/video on this website may not be reproduced, publicly broadcast, or publicly transmitted and utilized without authorization.