Problems have arisen in the online food-ordering industry in China, including issues related to restaurants operating without licenses, false advertising, and problems with food safety.

To deal with these problems and ensure consumer safety, China's top food authority has drafted and publicized a new regulation that covers the online-order industry and other third-party platforms in order to solicit public opinion, reported Xinhua.

China Food and Drug Administration stated that the online food providers must have physical stores and strictly run their businesses based on the criteria of their business licenses.

The online food providers must also fully show copies of their business licenses on their websites or on the third-party platforms that they use, and update changes to their business licenses in a timely fashion. Otherwise, they will face a fine of between 5,000 yuan (around 730 USD) and 10,000 yuan from the food authority. The online food providers were also ordered to ensure the safety of the food they sell by using safe materials to contain and transport the food.

For third-party platforms, the regulation said that they should record the information about each order through the platform, including the food's name, time of the order, time for the food's arrival and the destination for the food. The records should be kept at least 6 months.

The third-party platforms should also make spot checks and inspections about the running of the online food providers. They are also obliged to make sure the ads of the food providers posted on their platforms are in accordance with the physical stores. Once illegal behaviours have been found, the platforms should stop service for the offending stores and report them to local food authorities.

Statistics show that the volume of the online food-ordering industry in China reached 176.15 billion yuan in 2016. However, illegal activities led to the closure of 225 online food providers in Beijing from last December to early January. Most of them were reportedly registered on the country's three largest online catering service platforms -- Meituan Waimai, Baidu Waimai, and Ele.me.