China summons Pinduoduo, JD.com over misleading advertising

BEIJING: Chinese e-commerce giants Pinduoduo and JD.com were among five major platforms summoned for talks over misleading advertising on Thursday, Beijing’s market watchdog said.

The talks with company representatives, held by the Beijing Municipal Administration for Market Regulation, come as local and national authorities crack down on excessive “involution-style” competition.

Official efforts to tame “involution” – a popular tag used to describe the race to outcompete that ends up nowhere – has hit major Chinese firms across online shopping, food delivery and electric vehicles.

The Beijing watchdog said it had identified issues including false advertising for promotional events, irregular rules and failing to disclose merchant information, according to a statement.

It proposed “rectification requirements” aimed at preventing and mitigating risks during the so-called “6.18” online shopping festival this month.

Some of the platforms had launched “¥10 billion subsidy” campaigns for the shopping event but did not detail actual subsidy amounts nor the length of the promotion, the statement said.

The watchdog also summoned representatives from social media sites Douyin and RedNote.

AFP has reached out to the firms for comment.