BEIJING, CHINA Faced with a proliferation of direct response advertising, the Chinese government has instituted new rules affecting infomercial broadcasts. As of Jan. 1, 2014, television shopping advertisements can air for only three minutes per hour on Chinese television stations, and none can run during prime time, from 6:00 p.m. to midnight. The government also banned infomercials featuring a news or interview format that might be mistaken for regular news broadcasts, and now prohibits telesales of “orthopedics, body reshaping, and liposuction” and “disguised promotion of breast enhancement.”
