A food delivery worker picks up an order at a food-delivery hub in Gongshu district, Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, on May 28, 2026. The district has upgraded 20 such hubs with measures including kitchen monitoring and food-safety tracking. [Photo/IC]

Zhejiang is strengthening oversight of about 200,000 online food-delivery businesses through measures including automated qualification checks, electronic license disclosure, and AI-powered inspections, partly to address problems involving so-called "ghost" food-delivery businesses.

The province has established 110 clusters for delivery-only food businesses, bringing operators without dine-in services into designated areas to make them easier to supervise.

New businesses that fail qualification checks cannot begin taking orders on online platforms. Platforms have so far blocked about 42,000 abnormal applications. Once a business passes the checks, its official electronic license can be displayed automatically on its platform page.

Zhejiang has also used open-source multimodal models including DeepSeek and Qwen to train "Mingchu AI", described as China's first vertical large model specifically designed for round-the-clock monitoring of restaurant kitchens.

The system analyzes kitchen video and assigns businesses scores based on conditions it detects. Businesses scoring below 60 receive a text message requiring corrective action. If a business scores below 60 in three consecutive inspections or is found to have other food safety problems, the AI system preserves electronic evidence, after which enforcement officers can conduct an on-site inspection, order corrections, and impose penalties when warranted.