KUALA LUMPUR, May 30 — A Chinese actress has been slapped with a 7.22 million Yuan (RM4.73 million) fine by China's market regulator bureau for false advertising.
Jian Tian, ambassador of Guangzhou-registered Infinite Free, claimed the company's fruit and vegetable-pressed candy was able prevent absorption of sugar, oil and fat without verifying its functions, Global Times reported.
China's advertisement laws stipulate that ordinary food are not allowed to be promoted for having therapeutic functions.
Quoting a statement from the State Administration for Market Regulation, the portal reported that Jing's income of 2.58 million yuan (RM1.69 million) from the endorsement was also seized and she was fined an additional 4.64 million Yuan (RM3.04 million), totaling 7.22 million yuan.
After news broke about her fine, Jing took to Sina Weibo to apologise for failing to check on the contracts and duped consumers.
Jing said she acknowledged her mistakes and has paid the fines, vowing to be responsible for consumers and not to endorse unverified products in the future.
The pressed candy, retailed at about 100 Yuan (RM65) has since been pulled from the shelves of major e-commerce platforms like Taobao and JD.com.
Jing, who starred in Pacific Rim 2, is the latest entertainer to be involved in legal cases after Chinese actor Deng Lun was fined 106 million Yuan (RM69.5 million) for tax evasion in March.
