Recently, photos of a highly-priced Chinese cabbage have been causing a stir online. The photos show that in the Shanghai Takashimaya Department Store, a Chinese cabbage with a packaging date of March 24 was on sale for 77.9 yuan (unit price is 32 yuan/kg).
In response to the above situation, the Shanghai Municipal Market Supervision Bureau quickly launched an investigation.
After investigation, it was found that in September 2020, Wang Mou signed a joint sales contract with Takashimaya Department Store in the name of Shanghai Nongkang Vegetable Professional Cooperative.
The relevant actions of Wang and Takashimaya Department Store are suspected of violating the relevant provisions of the “Price Law of the People’s Republic of China”, which constitutes an illegal act of price gouging.
On March 26, the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Market Supervision issued a notice of administrative penalty in accordance with relevant laws and regulations and imposed a penalty of 100,000 yuan on Wang and 500,000 yuan on Takashimaya Department Store.
Image source: Shanghai Municipal Administration for Market Regulation
Due to the epidemic outbreak in Shanghai, the demand for purchasing large amounts of daily necessities has risen and some living materials sold in the market have experienced a slight price increase.
Some merchants took the opportunity to raise prices on living materials such as meat, eggs, and milk disrupting the normal market order.
On March 25, Shanghai issued the “Guiding opinions on determining illegal behaviors of price gouging during the epidemic prevention and control period”.
The notice was issued to ensure the normal market supply of basic livelihood commodities such as grain, oil, meat, eggs, vegetables, milk, and epidemic prevention supplies such as masks and disinfectants.
Penalties for price gouging
Relevant departments are to impose administrative penalties if perpetrators fabricate, spread price increase information, and substantially increase prices.
The notice issued by the Shanghai market supervision department aims to regulate the market and guarantee the prices of basic livelihood commodities and anti-epidemic products, focusing on wholesale markets, bazaars, supermarkets, and temporary vegetable sale points.
According to statistics, as of March 24, Shanghai had inspected 21,000 related units and issued 17,000 warning letters. Law enforcement officers have warned and urged operators to make rectifications on issues such as non-standard pricing. As of March 24, seven cases involving violations of pricing regulations have been uncovered in the city and are under investigation.
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