This article is more than 7 years old

This article is more than 7 years old

Bargain-hunting Chinese judges will have to look further for cut-price deals after the abrupt closure of an online discount shopping network aimed solely at legal officials.

The service offered everything from clothes and kitchenware to cars and even properties – but only to court employees, who were required to register with their real name and work unit.

The China Courts Shopping Network disappeared hours after reporters made inquiries about the service. Eager legal consumers will now find only a message explaining that the site is undergoing maintenance.

Shortly after it was shuttered, a website run by the supreme people's court announced it had removed a link to the e-commerce site to "prevent further misunderstanding" after media reports.

Chinacourt.org said that the products were discounted because the service was a Groupon-style site offering money off for bulk purchases and that registration was necessary to avoid problems such as fraud. It added that the country's highest court had no dealings with the website's operators and had simply been trying to aid court service employees.

But Hong Daode, a law professor at the China University of Political Science and Law, told the Beijing News that the website could be used for covert bribery. He said whoever was involved at the court should be investigated.

"It is smart of them to take down this link. It is preventing corruption," said Lin Zhe, a law professor from the Central Party School.

She added: "Besides that, they should investigate it, find out how they made connections with this website, find out how many people or relevant departments got benefits and assess their responsibility."

The site seems to have been running since at least 2011, but a staff member at the company told the Beijing Youth Daily it had not anticipated such interest in the service and claimed it was not formally in operation.

The South China Morning Post said the company which ran the website, Beijing XD-Union Technology, has similar sites for employees of the state-owned China Petrochemical Corp and China Metallurgical Group.