Consumer rights group calls out live-streamers and platforms like Taobao and JD.com for violating product rules

The Zhejiang Consumer Council said 30 per cent of live-streamers it monitored during Singles’ Day were selling products that did not comply with regulations

Li Jiaqi and other top hosts were named by the group amid intensifying scrutiny of the booming live-streaming e-commerce industry

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Li Jiaqi, known in China as the “lipstick king”, was among several top live-streamers called out by a consumer rights watchdog over violating industry rules. Photo: Youku

Published: 12:00pm, 25 Dec 2021

A Zhejiang consumer rights watchdog has named and shamed live-streamers including industry heavyweight Li Jiaqi and lectured online shopping platforms such as Taobao over rules violations amid the country’s continued scrutiny of live-streaming e-commerce.

The Zhejiang Consumer Council said on Thursday that while monitoring live-streaming e-commerce during the Singles’ Day shopping festival, nearly 30 per cent of broadcasters sampled and 40 per cent of their products sold failed to comply with industry rules and standards.

Li Jiaqi, a top streamer known as the “lipstick king” for once selling 15,000 lipsticks in five minutes, was among a handful of broadcasters the consumer group called out. His infraction was selling products that were incorrectly labelled.

Other streamers, who are among the 17 top hosts that the group monitored on major platforms, were criticised for exaggerated sales pitches, obscene gestures, and labelling shipments with incorrect weights, among other violations.

The platforms summoned by the council include Taobao, Pinduoduo, JD.com, Kuaishou and Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok that is also owned by ByteDance. The operators were told to step up management and training of live-streamers. Taobao is owned by Alibaba Group Holding, which also owns the South China Morning Post.