Recently, law enforcement authorities in multiple regions have launched a fierce crackdown on the chaos of manufacturing and selling counterfeit goods in the bathroom industry. Chaozhou dismantled 3 smart toilet counterfeiting operations, seizing on-site products and packaging materials bearing fake TOTO, Kohler, JOMOO and other brands; Longquan City, meanwhile, carried out a centralized destruction of 997 counterfeit toilets, showerheads and other substandard products that had been mixed into key construction projects. In both regions’ actions, several individuals involved were severely punished according to law, demonstrating the authorities’ determination to purify the market environment.
Chaozhou Smashes 3 Smart Toilet Counterfeiting Operations
According to reports from the Chaozhou Municipal Market Supervision Administration and Southern Plus: in early June this year, the Chaozhou Municipal Market Supervision Administration discovered leads during an inspection, finding that an operation was privately producing counterfeit TOTO-brand smart toilets in Guxiang Town, Chao’an District. In response, the bureau swiftly contacted the brand’s rights holder to share information and coordinate efforts, and with bureau leaders taking the lead in overall planning, organized enforcement personnel to cooperate with the brand’s investigators in carrying out reconnaissance, pinpointing 3 illegal production operations distributed across Guxiang Town.
Before formally closing the net, the Chaozhou Municipal Market Supervision Administration repeatedly organized case-handling personnel to hold special meetings, conducting thorough analysis and deployment of the case, weighing and arguing the matter from multiple angles, and drawing up a tight action plan of “multi-route coordination, distributed deployment, simultaneous strikes, and capturing all in one net.” On the day of the action, June 3, enforcement personnel split into three groups and got into position in advance to keep watch, seizing the best moment to simultaneously carry out the investigation and crackdown, dismantling 3 counterfeiting and processing sites in one go.On-site, they seized a large batch of counterfeit TOTO smart toilets and toilet lids being processed, along with matching labels and outer packaging materials; at the same time, they seized toilet lid products and packaging materials counterfeiting well-known brands such as JOMOO and Kohler.
On June 16, to thank the Chaozhou Municipal Market Supervision Administration for efficiently investigating and handling counterfeiting and infringement cases in the bathroom field, effectively purifying the ceramic and bathroom market, and safeguarding enterprises’ brand rights and the public’s consumption safety, TOTO (China) Co., Ltd. specially presented a banner inscribed with the words “Thunderous strikes to protect the brand, heavy blows against counterfeiting to safeguard people’s livelihood.”
Chaozhou Destroys Large Batch of Counterfeit and Substandard Bathroom Products
Chaozhou TV reported that on June 18, the Chaozhou Municipal Market Supervision Administration held a centralized destruction event for counterfeit and substandard ceramic and bathroom products in Guxiang Town, Chao’an District. The products destroyed this time were mainly the counterfeit and substandard bathroom products seized by market supervision departments at all levels across the city during law enforcement and case handling since last year. The destruction process followed the principles of disposal according to law, harmless treatment, and the elimination of any re-circulation.
It is understood that since last year the Chaozhou Municipal Market Supervision Administration has implemented a quality improvement action for the smart bathroom industry, persisting in both “supporting the good” and “curbing the bad,” keeping a close watch on the entire chain of production, circulation, and sales, and strictly investigating all kinds of illegal and irregular conduct.As of now, the city’s market supervision system has filed and investigated a total of 156 cases related to smart toilets, involving goods worth 3.3356 million yuan, with fines and confiscations amounting to 1.9284 million yuan, resolutely upholding the industry’s reputation and shaping the “Chaozhou Trustworthy” brand.
Li Guitian, head of the Enforcement Supervision Section of the Chaozhou Municipal Market Supervision Administration, explained that given the characteristics of ceramic bathroom products being bulky, with porcelain that is difficult to degrade and cannot naturally decompose, this destruction adopted an integrated, environmentally friendly method of first dismantling and sorting, then crushing with heavy machinery, and resource-based collaborative disposal, ensuring the process is safe, environmentally friendly, and subject to supervision.
He stated that the Market Supervision Administration will continue to maintain a high-pressure posture in enforcement and supervision, focusing on key links in production and sales, intensifying daily inspections, special spot checks, and cross-departmental joint enforcement, keeping a close watch on low-price, low-quality goods online and offline as well as new forms and new tricks of counterfeiting and infringement, and making every effort to rectify and standardize the order of the market economy. At the same time, it will improve the product quality traceability system, guide local enterprises in promoting product anti-counterfeiting and traceability technologies, and help upgrade and improve the quality of the local ceramic and bathroom industry.
Longquan Carries Out Centralized Destruction of 997 Counterfeit Bathroom Products
According to the official WeChat account of the Public Security Bureau of Longquan City, Zhejiang Province:On June 2, Longquan police, together with the municipal People’s Procuratorate and the Market Supervision Administration, carried out a centralized destruction action against 997 counterfeit well-known-brand bathroom products that had been seized in an earlier case.The case was uncovered in August 2024, and after investigation, prosecution, and trial procedures, the entire case has been concluded.
According to reports, in August 2024, when Longquan police, together with market supervision departments, carried out a special inspection, they seized several types of suspected counterfeit-brand bathroom products at the site of a key construction project within the jurisdiction. This batch of products was crudely made, failed to meet quality standards, and also posed numerous safety hazards. Investigation revealed that the suspect Shao, after taking on the renovation project of this key construction project, in order to cut construction costs and reap illegal profits, conspired with two accomplices including Wu to take the risk of purchasing in bulk, through illegal channels in Guangdong, bathroom products with no quality assurance and counterfeiting well-known trademarks, and improperly put them into use in the construction project.
After comprehensively securing the evidence and pinning down all the individuals involved and the facts of the violations, the special task force precisely deployed and decisively closed the net, successfully apprehending 3 suspects including Shao and Wu, and seizing on-site nearly a thousand substandard products involved in the case, including counterfeit toilets, showerheads, and bathtubs. After lawful interrogation, the 3 suspects readily confessed to their illegal and criminal conduct of jointly purchasing and improperly using bathroom products bearing counterfeit registered trademarks.At present, the entire case has been concluded, and the three individuals involved, on suspicion of crimes related to counterfeiting registered trademarks, have all been sentenced to criminal punishment according to law, paying a heavy legal price for their illegal profit-seeking conduct.
Originally published in WeChat by Chu Wei Tou Tiao on 2026-06-23. Translated and edited for English-language readers.