A nationwide inspection tour by ruling Communist Party officials threatening fines of up to 50,000 yuan, or nearly US$7,000. for safety violations has prompted a wave of business closures in at least two southern Chinese cities, according to social media reports.
Inspectors from China’s State Council have been touring the country in recent weeks in a bid to bring the nation’s lagging fire and workplace safety standards up to scratch, carrying spot checks and under-cover investigations that could land business owners with a big fine.
But store owners and food stall-holders are fighting back by shutting up shop, in an apparent bid to evade an inspection that could wind up costing them dearly in fines.
Photos of shuttered stores in two cities in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong were circulating on social media over the weekend.
Some showed humorous notices that read: “Off today due to fear of ghosts.”
“The boss is in a bad mood,” read another, while one notice suggested life was getting too tough for business owners: “The fish are drowning in water.”
Business owners also took to social media to explain the closures.
“These closures have been forced on us; they’re not voluntary,” one business owner commented. “Nobody wants to take the risk of running afoul of the inspection team.”
Reports emerged from Guangdong’s Chaozhou and Shantou cities that night markets, barbecue stalls and street hawkers were shutting up shop ahead of the inspections, for fear of getting hit with a hefty fine.
The “New Hunan” news service reported that stalls that cook on an open flame had been ordered to shut down from Nov. 22-28 by authorities at Shantou’s Longyan South nightmarket.
Social media users from Chaozhou commented: “Never seen so many stores closed,” drawing parallels with the three years of lockdowns under the zero-COVID policy, which ended in December 2022 following nationwide protests.
A social media user from the area city described it as “a ghost town that is especially eerie at night.”
Another comment said the closures were understandable.
“If you close, you only lose a few hundred yuan, whereas you could lose tens of thousands if you open,” read one comment. “If you close, your turnover will be zero, but if you open, it could be negative.”
Official denials
Chaozhao officials responded to the online speculation, which saw the topic trending on Weibo on Saturday, by denying claims that the businesses were closing to avoid inspection, and saying that it was business as usual in the city, local media reported.
But local residents ridiculed the response.
“I would have believed this if I didn’t live locally,” commented one, while another added: “The whole street was shut down.”
Local authorities later issued warnings to businesses that closing down could result in their being targeted for more stringent inspections in future, according to a copy of an official notice sent to the X citizen media account “Mr Li is not your teacher.”
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A business owner from Guangdong who gave only the surname Liu for fear of reprisals said it was rare to see widespread store closures.
“It’s rare in our area to see such large-scale store closures,” he said. “It’s not a good idea to make it so that people are afraid to open for business.”
He said it was the sudden and nationwide nature of the inspections that had made many business owners particularly wary.
The Chaozhou government later issued a notice calling on businesses not to “intentionally close their doors to inspections without justifiable reason.”
A legal professional from Guangdong who gave only the surname Chen for fear of reprisal said many see safety inspections as the government trying to boost revenues when local coffers are empty.
“It’s another way for them to raise money,” Chen said. “Yes, they want to eliminate safety hazards and maintain stability, but they also want to help local governments raise revenues.”
Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.