(Yicai Global) Jan. 2 -- Police in China are investigating Quanjian Group amid allegations that activities at the controversial herbal healthcare product maker constitute a pyramid-selling scheme as well as false advertising.

Local authorities in Quanjian's hometown of Tianjin in the north of the country have also shut down its fire therapy clinics due to fire safety violations, The People's Daily reported, adding that the move is part of efforts to clean up the healthcare products market. 

Formed in 2004, Quanjian faced questioning last month after a report claimed that the firm intervened in and delayed cancer treatment for a four-year-old girl named Zhou Yang, who eventually died.

The company started out with fire therapy, which involves igniting alcohol-soaked towels on a patient's body to "dredge the circulatory system" and since branched out into several healthcare products. The company reportedly adopted a pyramid-selling model, according to insiders. 

Editor: William Clegg