Thousands of Food Vendors Wiped from Ele.me, Meituan and Baidu

Around 20,000 Beijing-based food vendors have been removed from China's three most popular delivery platforms, TechNode reports.

Ele.me, Meituan Waimai and Baidu Waimai earlier this week announced that they were each launching separate investigations into illegal or otherwise unqualified vendors as part of a wider crackdown on food safety violations in the capital. As of May 12, 7,926 Beijing takeaway shops had been wiped from Ele.me, 7,247 from Meituan and 4,413 from Baidu.

All three of the online food delivery services will also be naming and shaming blacklisted vendors in lists that are available online. The lists will be updated as more vendors are added.

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Similar efforts were made in Shanghai back in 2016, when city government officials announced new regulations that would require delivery service providers to ensure partner restaurants had proper licensing. 

In recent months, local governments in both Shanghai and Shenzhen have also been working with delivery services to crack down on traffic violations.

[Top image via Baidu]