SHANGHAI, July 14 (Xinhua) — Shanghai's market regulator has rolled out guidelines to regulate livestreaming sales activities to combat click farming, false advertising, and other foul play.

According to the municipal administration for market regulation, livestreaming sales platforms should establish a "blacklist" system for delinquent livestreamers. They may not advertise their livestreaming with such hype as "the lowest prices online" or "lowest prices in history."

To protect the rights and interests of minors and the elderly, it said livestreaming sales should not arbitrarily label products as "for infants and children only," sell products and services containing pornography or violence to minors, or publish illegal advertisements regarding medicine, investment, and real estate that target the elderly.

The guidelines have also clarified the obligations of livestreaming platforms, the channel operators, and livestreamers, and proposed the establishment of a rapid disposal system for consumer rights disputes.

Shoppable livestreaming is booming in China. According to a report released by data analysis agency iiMedia Research in late June, the scale of the country's livestreaming e-commerce industry hit 1.2 trillion yuan (about 178 billion U.S. dollars) in 2021, and this figure will likely exceed 2.1 trillion yuan by 2025.

(Source: Xinhua)