Shenzhen has officially implemented health regulations starting Jan. 1 to require all sellers of alcoholic beverages and carbonated drinks to have present on their counters or shelves required health warnings.

Shenzhen is reported to be the first in the country to set rules on the sale of alcoholic and carbonated drinks, sznews.com reported.

 The two types of health signs for the sale of alcoholic beverages.

According to the rules, sellers should have two types of health signs present for the sale of alcoholic beverages, specifically “These products contain alcohol (with a warning that ‘excessive alcohol use is harmful to health’)” and “selling alcohol to minors is prohibited (with penalty charge and complaint hotline).”

The penalty for selling alcohol to minors ranges from 5,000 yuan to 30,000 yuan (US$767-4,598). Residents can report irregularities via the hotline 12345.

The three types of signs for sales of carbonated drinks.

Legal sales of carbonated drinks should set up three types of signs on counters or shelves, specifically the recommendation of little or no sugary drinks for children and adolescents, the recommended daily intake of added sugar and the consequences of overconsumption of added sugar.

If sellers fail to present the required health signs, they will first be warned and urged to make corrections by the market supervision authority and afterwards will face a fine of 1,000 yuan for failure of correction after the warning, according to the rules.

In addition, the sale of alcoholic beverages is also prohibited at venues, including medical and health institutions, social welfare institutions for minors, primary and secondary schools and youth service institutions, as well as in vending machines.

If it is difficult to determine whether a person has reached adulthood, the seller shall require the buyer to show an ID card.

When the buyer is unable to present their ID card, the seller shall not be allowed to sell alcoholic beverages to the buyer. Violators will be fined 300,000 yuan, according to the health regulations.

All of the warnings can be downloaded from the official website of the Shenzhen Municipal Health Commission, http://wjw.sz.gov.cn/.