Procter & Gamble became the latest multinational¹ company to face scrutiny² from the Chinese authorities after the Shanghai government imposed a fine for what regulators said was false advertising⁴.

宝洁(Procter & Gamble)成为最新一家面临中国政府审查的跨国企业，此前上海市监管部门因该公司涉嫌监管部门所说的虚假广告对其予以处罚。

The Shanghai Municipal Administration of Industry and Commerce imposed a Rmb6m ($958,000) fine, described by state news agency Xinhua as the largest of its kind on record in China

上海市工商行政管理局对宝洁处以600万元人民币(合95.8万美元)的罚款，国有新闻通讯社新华社称这是中国针对虚假广告的最大罚单。

The Shanghai watchdog said the brand overstated some claims about its Crest⁵ toothpaste and digitally altered images used in advertising to make teeth look whiter.

上海市工商行政管理局表示，宝洁夸大了有关佳洁士(Crest)牙膏的一些宣传，经过数字处理改变了广告中的图像，让牙齿变得更白。

Crest said on its official microblog that the advert³ had not been aired since the middle of last year.

佳洁士在其官方微博上称，这则广告自去年年中起已停播。

China’s regulators have recently stepped up scrutiny on both foreign and local companies across a broad range of areas, imposing⁶ increasingly aggressive fines for anti-monopolistic conduct to protect the interests of consumers. China imposed a Rmb6.1bn fine on Qualcomm earlier this year, in the country’s biggest antitrust case to date.

中国监管机构最近加大了对多个行业的中外企业的审查，针对反垄断行为征收越来越高的罚金，以保护消费者利益。今年早些时候，中国对高通(Qualcomm)处以61亿元人民币罚款，为中国迄今处罚金额最高的反垄断案。

Although P&G’s fine is far smaller, the move reflects a desire on the part of Chinese authorities to improve enforcement of consumer protection laws, said retail⁷ analysts⁹.

零售分析师表示，尽管宝洁的罚款金额小的多，但此举反映出中国政府希望加强消费者保护法的执行力度。

“I think the impact on Crest’s market share will be very limited,” said Gao Jianfeng, consumer analyst⁸ with Shanghai-based Bogo Consultants¹⁰, pointing out that there was no suggestion that the toothpaste could be harmful.

总部位于上海的博盖咨询(Bogo Consultants)消费行业分析师高剑锋表示：“我认为这对佳洁士市场份额的影响将非常有限。”他指出，此案没有提到这款牙膏可能对人体有害。

But it is likely to have a big impact on the advertising and marketing¹¹ strategies of personal care and cosmetics¹² companies “that still largely depend on TV commercials that exaggerate the effect of their products”, he said. “Now they will have to be more cautious”.

但他表示，这可能会对个人护理和化妆品公司的广告和营销战略产生巨大影响，这些公司“仍基本上依赖电视广告夸大其产品效果，”“如今他们不得不更为谨慎”。

Ben Cavender of China Market Research in Shanghai said the fine could “set a precedent¹³”.

上海咨询公司CMR(China Market Research)的本•卡文德(Ben Cavender)表示，此次罚款可能会“开创先例”。

“Using P&G as a target shows that the government is serious about enforcement and that it may not turn a blind eye towards spurious product claims any more. Given how questionable¹⁴ a lot of the advertising we see in China is, this is probably a good thing”, he said.

他表示：“把宝洁作为靶子显示出中国政府对于执法态度严肃，他们可能不会再对虚假产品宣传视而不见了。鉴于我们在中国看到的很多广告都存在问题，这可能是件好事。”

Yan Qiang, retail analyst at Beijing’s Adfaith Consulting, points out that the fine is very small by global standards. “But what everyone should be aware of is that the legal environment in China is changing and the law enforcers are starting to show their teeth. It won’t be surprising if one day the standards in China are as high as those in US or UK,” he said.

北京正略钧策(Adfaith Consulting)零售业分析师闫强指出，从全球标准来看，此次罚款金额非常小。他表示：“但所有人都应明白，中国的法律环境正在发生变化，执法者正变得严厉。如果有一天中国的标准变得与英美一样高，那也是毫不奇怪的。”