Local authorities address mask production, sales, fraud

The number of masks manufactured in Shanghai continues to rise, Liu Ping, chief engineer at the city's commission of economy and information technology, said on Thursday.

All 17 local factories producing masks and their materials have started production, Liu said.

While 400,000 to 500,000 masks were produced every day in Shanghai before the Chinese New Year holiday, on January 27, the number had increased to 800,000, he said.

The next day, 1.1 million masks were produced, and it was estimated that 1.4 million masks would be produced on Thursday, he added.

"In some factories, administrative staff are working on the factory floor as well as grassroots government officials and volunteers, because many workers have returned to their hometowns for the holiday," Liu said.

He said the city will increase purchases of masks from abroad.

Violations

Shanghai's market watchdogs exposed 10 typical cases of irregularities regarding face masks on Thursday.

A convenience store of JD.com in Changning District is being investigated for selling expired medical facial masks, said the Changning District Administration for Market Regulation.

Seven packs of masks produced in June, 2017, with an expiry period of two years, were found at the store, which also failed to produce documents allowing the sale of medical products, the administration said.

Shanghai Mingjie Science and Technology Co Ltd in Fengxian District is being investigated for raising the online price of 3M masks to 398 yuan (US$57) per box, compared with the normal price of 139 yuan, the Fengxian District Administration for Market Regulation said.

Officials with the Minhang District Administration for Market Regulation are investigating an outlet of supermarket Shidai Lianhua in the district for raising the online price of children's facial masks from 69 yuan per box to 180 yuan per box. It also raised the price of medical masks from 5 yuan to 10 yuan.

The supermarket is being investigated for gouging, officials said.

A factory in Chongming District was busted for fabricating the production date of face masks which had expired, said the Shanghai Administration for Market Regulation. The masks in question have been seized.

Xu Jin, vice director of the Shanghai Administration for Market Regulation, said that inspectors have been deployed to 997 drugstores in different parts of the city to monitor prices.

Fraud

Shanghai police said on Thursday that their anti-fraud call center had received 12 reports from the public about suspected fraud involving masks.

On January 26, a man surnamed Ling reported to the police in Baoshan District that he paid 42,000 yuan to someone on the Internet who claimed to be selling masks, only to lose contact with the person afterwards.

Police said they managed to find the person to whom Ling paid the money and made him return the funds.

Police said they had prevented residents from losing 70,000 yuan in such frauds by January 28.