China has released new rules aimed at standardizing the country’s huge food delivery sector and pushing its healthy development.
The State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) issued the national guideline in early December 2025, which takes aim at some of the poor practices across the sector, including excessive platform fees, unrealistic delivery times, “ghost kitchens” and aggressive sales tactics.
The guideline covers all stakeholders to ensure fairness and transparency, including sellers, platforms, delivery people and how to deal with customer complaints.
Food vendors must show proof of their business license, videos of their premises, and verifiable location data to address the issue of below-standard “ghost kitchens.”
Platforms must not offer below-cost pricing to undercut rival platforms, they cannot force vendors to participate in promotions, and they cannot pass on the costs of promotional activities to vendors.
A key aim of the rules is to protect the rights of delivery workers. Delivery algorithms must reflect actual conditions, including the current weather, and delivery times must be calculated to reflect a maximum speed of 15 kilometers per hour, and other factors, such as whether a building has elevators. They cannot force delivery workers to extend their working time through offering bonuses.
While not legally binding, major platforms including Meituan, JD and Taobao said they would adopt the new standards, media reported.
Experts said that while the rules are recommendations, they will improve the chaos in the sector by setting clear standards, and solve the long-existing contradictions between sellers, platforms and customers.
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