A delivery man prepares to send food. (Photo/China News Service)
(ECNS) -- Illegal activities have led to the closure of 20,000 online food providers that did business on China's three major web platforms -- Ele.me, Meituan and Baidu -- following a recent supervision campaign, according to the Beijing Food and Drug Administration.
The number of orders to online catering services has risen to 1.8 million a day, with daily business transactions totaling 100 million yuan ($15 million) in the capital city. Despite the rapid growth, the online food industry is still fraught with issues related to restaurants operating without licenses and problems with food safety.
Law enforcement officers on Wednesday raided two restaurants, one hidden in a business district and another close to a tourist attraction. Both eateries provided food services online without approval.
The officers said that amid fierce competition, some catering service platforms have not properly reviewed restaurant qualifications before registering them to sell food online. Rotten ingredients and poor hygiene were found in some stores.
Li Jiang, director of the food market supervision section at the administration, said Beijing will make a greater effort to regulate online food deliveries and demand that catering service platforms fulfill their responsibilities.
