Market supervisors in Shanghai's downtown Changning District are pioneering new approaches for regulatory oversight with artificial intelligence, using technology-driven "non-on-site inspections" to streamline the business environment and reduce disruption for local businesses.

This new model, which aims to minimize the impact of inspections on businesses, is founded on the principle of "two less, one more" – less disturbance, lower regulatory costs, and more administrative guidance, the Changning District Market Regulation Bureau said yesterday.

The new approaches are currently mainly used on two scenarios: kitchens in eateries and online livestream sales.

Take kitchens for example. Cameras installed in the cooking area can display the food preparation process in real-time. Market supervisors can view the footages on mobile devices, and any non-compliant details can be captured and flagged by an AI-powered camera.

"The smart cameras are expected to cover all eateries in the district by the end of the year, including those stores that provide only takeout services," said Ni Jiahui, director of the bureau.

With the cameras, bureau officials can monitor hundreds of restaurant kitchens or thousands of elevators simultaneously from a centralized office. This allows for faster identification of potential risks, enabling resources to be deployed more effectively where they are needed most.

"With the new surveillance system kitchen staff have become more careful. Previously, it was mainly up to the store manager to monitor kitchen hygiene, but now the camera acts as an 'electronic manager'," said Jin Jing, public affairs manager with the restaurant chain Kwei Mun Lung.

"Chefs are more mindful of maintaining proper attire and carefully following procedures when they enter the kitchen. The tension of surprise inspections has been replaced with a greater sense of self-awareness and adherence to daily standards."

Meanwhile, restaurants don't have to put aside time and energy, especially for all kinds of on-site inspections.

"Before, safety inspections often required us to halt our work," Jin said. "Now our chefs can focus on cooking and we can continue serving customers without interruption. It makes us feel more secure and allows us to focus on what we do best."

Meanwhile, AI is also helping monitor live-streaming sales on various social networking services, such as Douyin (China's version of TikTok), Taobao, PDD and Xiaohongshu (RedNote), to see if streamers are selling fake or substandard products, or indulging in false or exaggerated advertising.

Launched in 2025, the smart surveillance system uses large generative language models to monitor live broadcasts and can provide real-time monitoring of livestreaming accounts.

"With the help of the system, we ourselves have also strengthened our internal compliance system and live-streaming content quality control," said Zhao Meiling, an official with Buy Quickly, a digital marketing service provider.

"We have launched our own monitoring and early warning activities within our business operations to discover and address potential violations."