Major Crackdown of 900 Illegal Businesses in Hongkou District
By Ilona Dielis
The good old days for shady businesses in Hongkou are over as the district is on a quest to crack down on illegal businesses. Since January, 900 shops, including massage salons, saunas and hair salons, have been shut.
A Hongkou market supervision bureau official cited reasons for the business closures being due to pollution output, fire risks or simply just being unlicensed. 179 'lucky' unlicensed business owners got help obtaining licenses as they were safely operating non-polluting companies. 2,000 legal businesses had to improve their business or address safety issues.
Unlicensed business owners however, have been offered help to open up shop somewhere else, along with offerings of food and accommodation to help affected business owners in their struggle to survive.
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