Chinese market regulators are investigating an e-commerce platform that claims its metallic cookware are imported from Japan but are in fact made in China.

Ekalife, a Shanghai-based online shop, came under scrutiny after the Minhang branch of the Administration for Market Regulation in Shanghai received tips off in December last year over false advertisements and the sale of counterfeit cookware.

The company had claimed in its advertisement video that the products were imported from Japan. The video also showed a man by the name of Ito Keita, who was dressed like a traditional craftsman and introduced the cookware in fluent Japanese.

According to the video, the words “Made in Japan” were embossed on the handle of the iron pot, while a label displayed the name Japan Ito Manufacturing Co. Ltd.

Ekalife said on its website that the company started to sell iron cookware in the summer of 2019.

The cookware was first invented in 1892 by a man called Ito Minoruko, and four generations of the Ito family continued to develop the products, which received a number of awards in the past century, Ekalife said on the website.

The family story and the Itos’ dedication to making the cookware attracted many consumers to buy the products.

However, it turned out that the so-called Japanese imported cookware had come from original equipment manufacturers in mainland China.

The items were sold by Ekalife on Tmall.com for 1,169 yuan (US$179), and by the OEM factory for 499 yuan.

Furthermore, Ito Keita was found to be a Chinese actor who had been hired by Ekalife to pass off as a Japanese craftsman.

Photos of the Ito family’s first and second generations, which had appeared on the promotional video, were found to be of a Japanese novelist and a sculptor.

Some consumers said that the company refused to refund them or told them not to trust the rumors.

The market watchdog started looking into Ekalife and some of the staffers, and took measures on the sales of the products.

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