Photo: VCG

The Guangdong Administration for Market Regulation recently summoned 16 major e-commerce platforms under its jurisdiction, including the regional branch of Alibaba and Meituan Youxuan, for an administrative guidance meeting to notify them of market violations and provide the guidelines for online promotional activities in the annual Double 11 shopping festival.

Days ahead of the country's largest online shopping spree, the administration convened an administrative meeting to educate about the common issues that were recently discovered among e-commerce businesses.

While informing them of the violations, the market regulator also highlighted the importance for industry players to better regulate themselves ahead of the shopping festival.

The administration warned companies to avoid several major issues, including unfair competition, improper handling of customer complaints, hyped prices and false advertisement, and encouraged transparent price-setting, protection of users' information and intellectual property rights.

Other reminders like avoiding the sale of prohibited goods such as wild animals and plants, electric cigarettes, and military or police uniforms were also highlighted in the administrative guidelines for the shopping festival.

The Double 11 shopping festival has been brewing for weeks, with domestic leading e-commerce platforms, such as Tmall and JD.com, offering discount prices and promotions in an attempt to boost their sales. However, the climax will not come until Wednesday evening when the biggest promotional activities are often held and the shining sales results unveiled.

The sales frenzy of Double 11 is getting more intense each year. For example, in 2020 Tmall's Double 11 transaction volume reached 498.2 billion yuan ($78 billion), exceeding the 268.4 billion yuan ($42 billion) in 2019.