China's public security ministry ordered a crackdown on"illegal and criminal activity involving the production and sale of counterfeit epidemic-related medicines and related items".
The current Covid-19 wave has seen drug stores stripped of supplies, as people snap up cold and fever treatments. Many have been forced to turn to sketchy online sellers with little guarantee of getting what they have paid for. The person said they had access to stocks of Paxlovid, a Beijing-approved Covid treatment developed by US drug giant Pfizer, and could mail some from the semi-autonomous city into mainland China.
"Ghitai has never offered medicines... for Covid-19, and entreats consumers to exercise caution to avoid fraud and financial losses," the company said. Despite those risks, the black market remains a common last resort for people like Xiao, whose elderly grandfather fell ill in December.
Force, suspicious, stripped