Chinese Tech Daily — 2026-04-19#

Top Story#

China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) has issued a massive 3.597 billion RMB (approx. $500M) fine across seven major e-commerce and delivery platforms, including Pinduoduo, Meituan, JD.com, and Ele.me, for their role in the “ghost food delivery” (幽灵外卖) scandal. These platforms were heavily penalized for failing to verify the licensing of virtual restaurants that lacked physical dining spaces or were already closed. Pinduoduo faced the steepest single fine of 1.522 billion RMB, notably because its employees used “violent and soft confrontation” to actively obstruct regulatory enforcement and investigations.