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Ji Siqi

Alice Li

Chinese authorities have summoned representatives of US-based membership-only retailer Sam’s Club for an “accountability interview” in response to “frequent food-safety issues”, the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) announced on Monday.
According to a notice from the regulator, the Walmart-owned supermarket chain was urged to “prioritise food safety, strictly fulfil social corporate responsibilities, mitigate risks across the entire supply chain and safeguard public health” in its physical stores and online shops.
With its marketing emphasising quality control and product selection, the warehouse retailer has in recent years become a status symbol among middle-class Chinese families. Quick expansion across mainland China gave it 63 stores in that market by the end of last year.
But Sam’s Club has been hit by a series of food-safety incidents across China over the past year, including reports of rats and maggots being found in its products.
In response to the regulator’s summons, Sam’s Club pledged on Monday to strengthen its food-safety controls and product quality management, and to uphold stringent food-safety standards to enhance customer experience, the Guangzhou-based Southern Metropolis Daily reported. The company also said it would regularly report its progress on rectification measures to regulators and proactively accept public oversight.
The South China Morning Post reached out to Walmart for comment but did not receive an immediate response.
Chinese regulators have recently stepped up public enforcement actions against some of the country’s largest companies.
In April, SAMR fined seven e-commerce giants – including Pinduoduo, Meituan, JD.com, Douyin and Taobao – for allowing uncertified food producers to operate via their online marketplaces. The companies were collectively fined 3.6 billion yuan (US$532.7 million). In addition, the legal representatives and food-safety directors of the seven platforms were fined a combined 19.7 million yuan.
It’s a move to foster ‘high-quality growth’, by laying out the regulatory obligations of major platform businesses
Xu Tianchen, Economist Intelligence Unit
While the recent flurry of regulatory actions signalled a shift away from a more subdued approach to enforcement following a crackdown on tech companies that began in late 2020, analysts said the move aligned with China’s broader goal of high-quality development.
“It’s not part of a regulatory tightening cycle against tech firms, similar to the one in 2020-21,” said Xu Tianchen, senior economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit. “Rather it’s a move to foster ‘high-quality growth’, by laying out the regulatory obligations of major platform businesses.”
Xu cited new SAMR regulations that targeted not only factories producing substandard food, but also platforms that promoted and sold it.
Two new regulations enforcing strict food-safety compliance across the entire supply chain – including production, delivery and online promotion – came into effect in late May and early this month.
The Chinese government has placed a growing emphasis on the quality of development. It has set a more flexible economic growth target of between 4.5 per cent and 5 per cent for this year, while stepping up efforts to curb excessive price wars, address monopolistic practices, and advance the development of a unified domestic market.
Alfredo Montufar-Helu, managing director at Ankura China Advisors, a consultancy firm, said that while the recent wave of regulatory interventions – including actions last week targeting online platforms, applications and carmakers – had different targets, they were aligned with broader policy priorities.
“Together they point to a broader trend: Chinese regulators are becoming more assertive in enforcing market order standards as part of the broader push to build an environment conducive to high-quality consumption,” he said.
“What’s interesting to note is that these moves are targeting both domestic and foreign firms, which suggests the driver is domestic regulatory priorities rather than geopolitics.
“Companies operating in China should take this as a signal to tighten compliance monitoring and consumer protection.”
Additional reporting by June Xia


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Members-only supermarket chain urged to ‘strictly fulfil’ its corporate responsibilities


Members-only supermarket chain urged to ‘strictly fulfil’ its corporate responsibilities.


China summons executives of Walmart-owned Sam’s Club over ‘food-safety issues’

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Members-only supermarket chain urged to ‘strictly fulfil’ its corporate responsibilities

Members-only supermarket chain urged to ‘strictly fulfil’ its corporate responsibilities