China Cracks Down on Retailers and Venues Over Child-Safety Violations

1. China's top judicial and market regulatory bodies jointly released a set of landmark cases to warn businesses in children's entertainment and consumer goods sectors about protecting minors from hazardous products and unsafe environments [para. 1][para. 2]. The authorities highlighted emerging risks including age-inappropriate escape rooms, dangerous toys, and counterfeit children's skin-care products containing banned steroids [para. 3].

2. A prominent case involved a 15-year-old minor, Wang Xiaobing, who visited a horror-themed escape room in October 2022 and signed a waiver accepting responsibility for injuries [para. 4][para. 5]. The venue allowed the minor to play despite the game being registered for players aged 18 and older, and provided no protective gear [para. 7]. Under Article 506 of China's Civil Code, liability waivers for personal injury are legally void; the court ordered the venue to pay medical bills, care expenses, and emotional distress [para. 8]. The Supreme People's Court noted that such venues have high participation among minors, making age restrictions a vital social responsibility [para. 9].

3. In another case, a nine-year-old boy, Liu Xiaoming, choked to death after inhaling a plastic cap from a syringe-shaped gel candy [para. 10]. The candy's packaging warned it was not for children under three, but individual items lacked consumption instructions, and the cap posed a severe choking hazard [para. 11]. The court ruled that because the product was marketed as both food and a toy, it had to meet safety standards for both; the manufacturer was 60% liable for design defects, and the parents were 40% liable for inadequate supervision [para. 12]. The court urged higher duty of care for products designed for children [para. 13].

4. Regulators targeted substandard toys in September 2025 after media reports exposed false labeling on "Niquduo" brand slime toys [para. 14]. Authorities seized 409 boxes of unqualified slime, discovering the company lacked mandatory product certifications, falsified factory addresses, and failed to provide safety warnings [para. 14]. The local market supervision bureau ordered a halt to production, confiscated 1,651 boxes, and imposed a fine of 67,200 yuan [para. 15].

5. The most severe penalties involved a pharmaceutical firm that manufactured and sold 16 batches of baby creams and medical ointments containing banned glucocorticoids between April 2020 and June 2021 [para. 16][para. 17]. The company generated over 1.79 million yuan in sales from the tainted products [para. 18]. Zhao Hong, the legal representative, and Wang Wei, the vice president, were arrested and convicted of manufacturing and selling counterfeit products [para. 19][para. 20]. The court imposed a fine of 900,000 yuan on the company, sentenced Zhao to eight years in prison with a 900,000 yuan fine, and Wang Wei to seven years in prison with a 900,000 yuan fine; both had political rights stripped for one year [para. 20].

6. Under Article 55 of China's Law on the Protection of Minors, goods produced for children must adhere to national and industry safety standards [para. 21]. The rulings signal that China's courts and regulators are willing to impose heavy criminal and financial penalties to protect child safety [para. 21].