Fake masks earn prison sentence and a ban

A man responsible for the production of fake 3M masks has been jailed for three years and three months, a court in Xuhui District said.

After his release, Sun will be banned from any involvement in mask production for five years, it added.

In November last year, police received a report of fake masks being sold online. During their investigation, officers traveled to central China's Henan Province where they seized around 50,000 fake items, including 3M labels, packaging and certificates, from a mask manufacturing factory in a village.

Sun pleaded guilty. His factory couldn’t produce medical masks or dust masks and, to earn more money, he started the illegal business in May 2018, selling fakes across the country. The court said the factory had a total turnover of over 590,000 yuan (US$89,600).