China cracks down on fraudulent TCM online marketing

China's National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, in coordination with other departments, has taken action against two major cases of illegal online marketing involving Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).

In the first case, 35 online stores operating under the name ‘Hong Kong Grand Pharmacy’ were removed from major e-commerce platforms including JD.com, Pinduoduo, Xiaohongshu, Douyin, and Kuaishou. These stores, which are not actually located in Hong Kong, were found to be falsely advertising daily necessities such as ‘bone-penetrating plaster’ and ‘moisture-free pills’ as medicinal products with therapeutic effects like pain relief. As a result, authorities removed 3,318 illegal product links and 342 illegal advertisements.

The second case involved 27 doctors from 22 medical institutions across multiple provinces. These medical professionals were found to be using health science popularization as a pretext to illegally recommend a prescription drug, ‘detoxification and lipid-reducing granules,’ on social media platforms. Authorities have requested the removal of all related videos and have ordered the involved medical institutions to conduct self-inspections to ensure compliance with medical and advertising regulations.