IKEA currently operates over 30 stores in China. Photo: cnsphoto

IKEA was fined 30,000 yuan ($4,670) by the local market regulator in Jing'an District, Shanghai, and was ordered to stop using unqualified special equipment that was not manufactured under a license or not certified by the authorities, an administrative penalty notice on the regulator's website said.

According to the notice, its Shanghai-based store did not apply for a periodic inspection and certification of its special vehicles before the expiration of the validity period, and the company continued to use them following the expiration date.

On November 3, 2021, when local regulators carried out inspection of the company, the Shanghai branch was found that the coming "next inspection date" of its special vehicles was marked as September 21, 2021, a breach of local administrative rules.

Despite this notice, the store continued to use the same vehicles. It was also identified as using the special equipment on October 5, October 15 and November 1, 2021, respectively, violating China's Special Equipment Safety Law.

The fine is not the first penalty handed out to the Swedish furniture giant. In November 2021, IKEA China was fined more than 210,000 yuan by the Shanghai market regulator for selling substandard bedding products. The illegal gains that IKEA obtained from selling the substandard products totaled 6,158.82 yuan, which was confiscated by the Pudong New Area Administration for Market Regulation of Shanghai.

Global Times