People shop at a supermarket in Haizhou district of Lianyungang city, East China's Jiangsu Province on March 9, 2023. China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rose 1 percent year on year in February, the National Bureau of Statistics said on the day. Photo: VCG

Market regulators in various Chinese cities and related ministries have moved to act against companies which have been exposed to have infringed consumers' rights during an annual consumer rights protection gala held on Wednesday, the World's Consumer Rights Day.

China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said on Thursday to immediately conduct inspection on mobile apps that were exposed in the gala due to illegal collection of users' private data, and vowed to enhance further regulation to crack down similar illicit acts. 

The Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Affairs announced on Wednesday night to deploy supervisor group to East China's Jiangsu Province to secure the construction of local high-standard crop fields and conduct comprehensive inspection among construction material providers following a case in the province.

In Yancheng of Jiangsu Province, Binhai county's Liwu Concrete Products Co's defective reinforced concrete tubes used in local high-standard crops fields were named during the gala. The usage volume of metal in the defective tube reached only half the required standard level, leading to land subsidence in crop yields. The local market regulator launched an investigation the same day and will publish further information in time, China News Agency reported. 

The gala also named three food companies in East China's Anhui Province selling fake imported Thai fragrance rice which was in fact made of domestically-produced rice and edible essence. Market regulators in three cities were already moving to investigate these three firms as of Wednesday night, and will provide public updates as necessary. 

In livestreaming sector, the gala lifted the veil on an illicit social media bots business case of Yan'an Yarunjin Internet Technology Co in Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, which provided false shopping record services, disrupting market order. Yan'an local market regulator said on Wednesday night that it was coordinating with the city's public security department to probe the company, and will update the public of developments relevant to the case. 

The gala also listed other cases related to consumer rights protection, including livestreaming scam, illicit advertisement targeting elders and defective safety equipment in scenic sites, which all went viral on Chinese social media and raised consumer awareness.

Three-point safety belt used in some entertainment facilities in scenic sites such as aerial walkway was exposed in the gala that it may cause heavy injury if tourists fall down. However, putting on three-point safety belt usually takes less time than putting on five-point safety belt which has better protection, thus some scenic sites' operators turn to make more profit but ignore tourists' safety.

Global Times