(Yicai Global) Oct. 18 -- Chinese regulators will comb the web looking for illegal food promotions on e-commerce platforms, social media and television infomercials that compromise food safety, an official from the State Administration for Market Regulation said.

The nationwide campaign will have a particular focus on products sold by so-called internet celebrities and will run until December next year, Yan Hongcan, head of SAMR's Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement, said at a press conference held in conjunction with the country's Prosecutor-General's Office and the China Food and Drug Administration in Beijing yesterday.

"We're in favor of online celebrity food endorsements that are conducted in a proper manner," Yang said. But some merchants are only concerned with making money and do not pay attention to the quality of their products. Third-party platforms should screen best-selling food items and punish unqualified vendors, he added.

Between January 2018 and last month, Chinese regulators prosecuted 20,513 people in 12,601 cases and approved the arrest of 8,401 in 5,299 cases related to producing and selling fake medicines, substandard drugs, food that is not compliant with safety standards as well as toxic and harmful foodstuffs.

Platforms should properly monitor their sites and look out for and prevent illicit practices such as so-called click farming and the posting of fake comments, Yang said. Such acts are in breach of China's laws on advertising, competition and consumer rights.

Dietary supplements in particular can contain illegally added Western medicines and this has led to great public dissatisfaction, he added.