A business owner in Dongyang, East China’s Zhejiang Province was detained on Wednesday for producing and selling counterfeit copies of the popular Olympic mascots, Bing Dwen Dwen and Shuey Rhon Rhon, according to the local market supervision bureau in Dongyang, amid the government clampdown on illegal activities, including sales of counterfeit Olympic merchandise.
About 77 units of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games mascot Bing Dwen Dwen and 1,000 unfinished copies of Shuey Rhon Rhon were found in a workshop, according to the Dongyang market supervision authority.
The company sold counterfeit Olympic mascots on multiple e-commerce platforms.
This came in line with the announcement on Tuesday by the local police in Beijing’s Dongcheng district that three individuals were inspected and given administrative penalties for illicit sales of Beijing 2022 Bing Dwen Dwen mascots.
Officials in Beijing said that Bing Dwen Dwen mascots have gone viral amid the ongoing Beijing Winter Olympic Games and some resellers are charging excessively high prices that disrupted the market.
The original price for a Bing Dwen Dwen toy was 198 yuan ($31) but some have been sold for 2,000 yuan ($315), 10 times over its original price.
Bing Dwen Dwen, the mascot of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games, has attracted many fans at both home and abroad and licensed products have sold out.
The Beijing Organising Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games said the current supply shortage was caused by a significant surge in demand and pledged to increase the supply of Bing Dwen Dwen to meet the market needs.
A staff member walks past mascots for Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at the Beijing Media Center on January 29, 2022. Photo: VCG
