The food safety regulation on online catering services in China：from the perspective of co-governance concept

Online catering services, as part of the disruptive digital economy run by technology intermediaries, have challenged traditional food safety regulation with the food safety issues of such new market due to its integrated supply chain isolated from traditional regulatory framework. Hence, this research aims at how co-governance, as a new governance concept, tests the change of regulation on the change of market through the case of food safety regulation on online catering services in China. This thesis adopts the qualitative approaches in identifying key actors involved in the change of market, their identification of the problems from this new market and their interaction in the change of regulation on these problems. Methods including recording interviews, checking documents of laws, policies, standards and reports and observation had been applied to this research to interpret the activities of participants. The data analysis revealed that the central government of China had changed food safety regulation by sharing responsibilities among key actors related to food safety. Such action ensured online catering platforms had been included as the critical market actors of food safety control watched over by an amalgamated regulatory authority. Prompted by this reform, key actors involved in food safety of online catering services did interact by regarding food safety as a common issue. In the view of co-governance concept, maintaining the consistency between service information supplied online and the service delivered based on such information means preventing activities of actors in the new market from forming their own close loop of activity information without oversight from formal regulators and feedback from the society. None of the key actors can cope with such problems alone but mutually depend on each other, thus key actors impacted by common issues including food safety can constantly exchange advantageous resources through interactions based on mutual dependence.