Beijing Reuters - Chinese state media declared Tuesday it was imperative to regulate advertisements for cosmetic surgery procedures and treatments, saying that some made excessive or false claims.
From posters at bus stops and in subway, to introductions on social websites and content platforms, from advertisements planted in films and TV entertainment shows, to promotional sales by live-streamers, medical beauty advertisements are overwhelmingly pervasive, the People's Daily newspaper said in a commentary article published on its website.
The newspaper said some ads associate good looks with high-quality diligence and success fabricating stories about plastic surgery changing one's destiny and distorting aesthetic perceptions.
The criticism of the sector comes as Chinese regulators have wielded a wide-ranging crackdown on industries from technology to education to property to strengthen their control over the economy and society after years of runaway growth.
The spate of regulatory activity has raised investors' concerns over which sectors could come under scrutiny next.
In August, China's market regulator drafted guidelines to regulate the medical aesthetic sector's advertising practices, saying that they were prompting societal anxiety over people's looks.
Demand for plastic surgery or medical aesthetic treatment has boomed in China in recent years with procedures to make one's eyes wider or nose higher among the most popular. However, they have been criticised for failing to remind people about risks.
In July, a 33 year old online influencer died of complications after a botched liposuction procedure in a case that was widely reported by media in China.