What about before COVID?

There is a dedicated government department tasked for cracking down all those street vendors/stands, it called the urban management department. It is the department that has the lowest public approval rating in China with its staff regularly engage in brutal violence against those trying to setup a stand on the streets to make a living.

Their (stupid) logic is simple - such stands / street food vendors degrade the overall investment potentials, as no one wants their multi billion investment project to be surrounded by thousands of street food vendors.

welcome to state capitalism.