Urumqi restaurants ordered to remove uncertified halal logos

Restaurants in the capital of Xinjiang have been ordered to remove unauthorized halal logos from their signs in a campaign that aims to regulate unauthorized usage of religious signs and protect genuine Islamic food from fakery in the city.

Restaurants in Urumqi, the Northwest China autonomous region’s capital, have been asked to remove the logos when restaurants or their signs do not meet the standards of the China Islamic Association, community officials told the Global Times on Monday.

Halal logos must be approved by the China Islamic Association. Those who do not remove the logos have been asked to cover them up, officials said.

“The halal sign is issued by the association and each sign has a number,” an Urumqi official, who requested anonymity, told the Global Times on Monday.

“Only restaurants with a proper halal certificate that complies with the halal standards of the association are allowed to hang signs with halal,” said the official.

The order can be interpreted as a bid to “downplay the religious effect in people’s daily life,” according to Xi Wuyi, an expert on Marxism at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

“Respecting dining habits of ethnic minority groups does not mean promoting the related religious factors in social life,” Xi wrote in her Sina Weibo account on Monday.

Halal food must be genuine and meet standards required by the Koran and Islamic law, according to the China Islamic Association.

“To make sure the halal food is genuine is to protect Muslim consumers from spiritual harm. Fake halal food might not hurt their lives but will make them suffer mental trauma,” the association posted on its website.

Businesses must apply to the association for a halal certificate and pass a field examination.

The association could not be reached for further comment on Monday.