China Summons Walmart Over Sam’s Club Food Safety
China’s top market regulator summoned senior executives of Walmart (China) Investment Co., Ltd. for a formal regulatory interview on Monday, June 15, over repeated food safety violations detected at Sam’s Club stores and online sales channels across the country. The State Administration for Market Regulation, or SAMR, said in a notice that the talks addressed food safety problems found in both physical outlets and e-commerce operations over an extended period. The regulator did not disclose when the meeting itself took place or specify the individual violations.
SAMR ordered Walmart China to fully comply with China’s Food Safety Law and regulations governing chain food retailers and online food sales operators, the agency said in its official statement, carried by Xinhua. The regulator told the company to strengthen food safety awareness, take primary responsibility for food safety across its entire supply chain, and put in place measures to prevent risks from the point of production to the point of sale.
Sam’s Club issued a public apology on Monday, acknowledging the concerns raised by the regulator. “We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience and concern caused to our members,” the company said in a statement sent to the Global Times. The chain added that it had immediately established a special rectification task force led by senior management, initiating a comprehensive review and corrective action campaign across all sales channels and its full supply chain.
The company also pledged to keep regulators informed of its progress. “We will regularly report rectification progress to the regulatory authorities and proactively accept supervision,” Sam’s Club said, according to the Paper, a state-backed media outlet. Walmart’s China corporate office did not respond to a separate request for comment from Reuters.
The action by SAMR follows a series of food safety incidents at Sam’s Club outlets that received significant public attention over the past year. The South China Morning Post reported these included incidents involving rats and maggots found in products. One widely reported episode in December 2025 involved a consumer in Shenzhen claiming a live mouse was found inside a box of mochi purchased at a Sam’s Club store, drawing widespread discussion on Chinese social media platform RedNote, the Global Times reported at the time.
The regulatory summons arrives at a pivotal moment for Sam’s Club’s China operations. The membership-only warehouse format, which Walmart introduced to China in 1996, has become one of the company’s most important growth stories globally. Sam’s Club reached 63 stores across mainland China by the end of last year, the chain’s own website shows, after double-digit growth in transactions and an aggressive expansion programme. China Daily reported that Walmart’s China net sales climbed 21.8 per cent to $6.1 billion in the fiscal third quarter of 2025, with Sam’s Club driving a disproportionate share of that growth.
“Rapid expansion of Sam’s Club will inevitably bring growing pains that risk diluting the member experience,” Jason Yu, general manager at CTR Market Research, told China Daily on Monday.
The regulatory interview adds to a recent pattern of Chinese authorities taking formal action against major retailers on food safety and business conduct grounds. In April 2026, SAMR fined seven e-commerce platforms — including Pinduoduo, Meituan, JD.com, Douyin and Taobao — a combined 3.6 billion yuan, equivalent to approximately $532.7 million, for allowing uncertified food producers to operate on their marketplaces, the South China Morning Post reported. The Sam’s Club action follows that precedent of direct regulatory accountability targeting the platform or retailer, not merely the supplier.
The SAMR notice specifically cited three legal instruments Walmart China must comply with: the Food Safety Law; the Regulations on Supervision and Management of Food Safety Responsibilities of Chain Food Sales Enterprises; and the Regulations on Supervision and Management of Food Safety Responsibilities of Online Food Sellers, the Global Times reported. The inclusion of online seller regulations reflects the growing share of Sam’s Club revenue that flows through e-commerce channels — Walmart China reported that online sales accounted for more than half of its total China revenue in its most recent fiscal quarter.
Regional and Global Impact
The SAMR summons carries implications beyond food safety compliance. Sam’s Club has spent years building a brand identity in China built around premium quality and rigorous product selection, establishing the chain as a symbol of middle-class aspiration for urban Chinese families, the South China Morning Post noted. Repeated safety incidents that receive heavy social media coverage can undermine that positioning quickly, particularly in a market where consumer trust is difficult to rebuild after high-profile failures.
For Walmart globally, China is one of its few markets delivering consistent above-average growth at scale, making the protection of its Sam’s Club operations there a strategic priority. The company’s China net sales have grown at rates ranging from 21 to 30 per cent across recent fiscal quarters, driven almost entirely by Sam’s Club, China Daily figures show.
Walmart also faces a distinct political dimension in China. In March 2025, China’s Ministry of Commerce and other departments summoned Walmart separately after reports that the retailer had pressured Chinese suppliers to cut prices to absorb the cost of US tariffs, according to Global Times reporting at the time. The two summonses — one over supplier pricing, one over food safety — illustrate the breadth of regulatory exposure that large foreign retailers face in China, where enforcement action can accelerate swiftly when public or political attention is engaged.
Background
Sam’s Club entered China in 1996, and the format struggled for much of its first two decades before becoming a breakout success after 2017 as Chinese middle-class spending power grew. The chain had 53 stores operating as of early 2025 before a wave of new openings brought the total to 63 by year-end, according to China Daily. Sam’s Club contributed 68 per cent of Walmart China’s $20.3 billion in net sales in Walmart’s fiscal year 2025, according to company data. SAMR is China’s principal market and consumer protection regulator, with authority spanning antitrust enforcement, food and product safety, advertising law, and business licensing. A regulatory interview — or “administrative guidance talk” — is a formal enforcement tool in China that compels company executives to respond to regulator concerns in person, and is often a precursor to fines or operational restrictions if remediation is found inadequate.
What Happens Next
Sam’s Club has committed to reporting its rectification progress to SAMR on a regular basis, the company said on Monday. SAMR has not announced a timeline for follow-up review or indicated whether financial penalties are under consideration. No specific corrective deadline has been made public. If the company’s remediation is found insufficient, SAMR retains authority under the Food Safety Law to impose fines, order temporary closures of non-compliant outlets, or revoke food business licences for individual stores. The SAMR statement did not address Walmart’s broader China operations outside of Sam’s Club.
