It's literally a case of if you can't beat them, you may as well persuade them.

After months of criticism about heavy-handed tactics by urban management officials, known as chengguan, some local governments have gone on a charm offensive to cleanse city streets of unlicensed peddlers.

Chengguan in Wuhan, Hubei province, successfully shut down an illegal sidewalk snack booth by merely standing and staring at the customers, the city-based Chutian Metropolis Daily reported.