  Using a data sample of $448.1\times10^6$ $\psi(3686)$ events collected at
$\sqrt{s}=$ 3.686 GeV with the BESIII detector at the BEPCII, we search for the
rare decay $J/\psi \to \phi e^+ e^-$ via $\psi(3686) \to \pi^+\pi^- J/\psi $.
No signal events are observed and the upper limit on the branching fraction is
set to be $\mathcal{B}(J/\psi \to \phi e^+ e^-) < 1.2 \times 10^{-7}$ at the
90\% confidence level, which is still about one order of magnitude higher than
the Standard Model prediction.
