China's State Administration for Market Regulation fined seven platforms from PDD Holdings, Meituan, JD.com, Alibaba and ByteDance a record 3.6 billion yuan (US$528 million) over 67,000 unlicensed 'ghost' bakeries. The probe revealed hidden offices, violent clashes and an employee swallowing notes to obstruct investigators. Incidents occurred during a December on-site inspection at Pinduoduo.
The State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) levied a 3.6 billion yuan (US$528 million) fine on seven platforms run by PDD Holdings, Meituan, JD.com, Alibaba Group Holding and ByteDance, following a probe into 67,000 'ghost' bakeries on major e-commerce sites.
According to a Monday report by China Quality Daily, a newspaper supervised by SAMR, investigators during a December on-site probe discovered a hidden office area late at night as employees left. As they tried to enter, official Guo Hui had his hand crushed in a door by company staff, resulting in a fracture; the report did not name the company.
Xinhua News Agency reported on Saturday that the incident took place at Pinduoduo, the budget shopping site owned by PDD. The company did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Tuesday.
The following night, investigators said PDD's security head led a group that stormed the investigation site, shoving officers and knocking Guo to the ground, China Quality Daily said, adding that he was hospitalised with a head injury.
During a formal inquiry with investigators, local police and market regulators, a PDD employee was caught passing secret notes with instructions such as 'silence' and 'don't speak' to a colleague under questioning. When discovered, the worker crumpled the paper and swallowed it in front of officials, the newspaper said.
