China vows to crack down on ad scams

BEIJING -- China has ordered tightened supervision over healthcare and medical product advertisements in 2013, in a bid to crack down on ad-related scams and bogus products.

According to a circular jointly released by 13 government agencies, advertisements for medical equipment, pharmaceuticals and health food will be strictly supervised this year.

Authorities have also vowed to crack down on advertisements that contain pornography and vulgar content, as well as investment scams.

To eliminate fraud, regulators will keep a close watch on TV shopping and health counselling programs as well as ads running in newspapers, TV channels, portal websites, search engines, pharmaceutical websites and online trade platforms.

The circular has called for more self-discipline among media organizations and strengthened law enforcement to remove illegal advertisements.

The agencies that jointly issued the circular include the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC), the General Administration of Press and Publication, the ministries of public security and health, the State Food and Drug Administration and the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television.

In 2012, the SAIC launched a similar campaign to eliminate bogus ads for medical equipment, pharmaceuticals, health foods, cosmetics and beauty services. The SAIC handled about 40,000 cases of legal violations in this area.