A Buddha statue sits in the middle of two buildings of the Quanjian company in Yancheng, East China's Jiangsu Province. The statue is being removed. Photo: IC

A Buddha statue at the headquarters of controversial Chinese healthcare products maker Quanjian is under demolition for failing to meet regulations.

The two-sided golden Buddha statue located in front of a building in Quanjian's East China division headquarters "does not meet relevant qualifications," the local authority of Yancheng, East China's Jiangsu Province was quoted by news site thepaper.cn as saying on Wednesday. 

The 10-meter high statue cost over 20 million yuan to build, with one Quanjian employee telling thepaper.cn that it could save people from diseases and help people during calamities. 

According to the regulations on religious affairs, government organs, enterprises and other organizations and individuals are banned from investing in the construction of big religious statues outdoors other than religious sites. "Big religious statue" refers to statues higher than 10 meters. 

Local religious organizations should apply for the construction of such big statues to the local religious affairs department, and raise funds for the construction, according to the regulations. 

The Tianjin-based health product company, Quanjian Nature Medicine Technology Development Co. Ltd, was found in January to have been involved in a pyramid scheme scandal and false advertising.

Eighteen suspects implicated in the scandal were detained in January 2019, the Xinhua News Agency reported. 

The scandal has led Chinese authorities to crack down on irregularities in the domestic health product market, targeting exaggerated advertisements and illegal online sales of health products.