Alibaba’s top rival flaunts authentic-products campaign just after Jack Ma’s ‘fake goods’ crisis

It’s no secret in China’s e-commerce industry that its two leading tycoons are not friends and frequently get into a war of words.

Just a week after Alibaba’s Jack Ma Yun ran into trouble with Chinese regulators over fake products sold in Alibaba online stores, Richard Liu Qiangdong, founder and chief of JD.com, launched a new initiative that touts its products’ merits – and authenticity.

On Wednesday, JD.com, a long-time competitor of Alibaba’s online shops including Tmall.com and Taobao.com, announced a new initiative called “French Mall” through which JD.com will exclusively “sell authentic imported French products”, the company said in an e-mailed statement.

It was announced at exactly the same time when JD.com, which claims to be China’s largest online direct-sales company, also made a joint statement with the French government on “product authenticity”. The company said the two statements just “coincided” with each other.

JD.com’s statement did not mention any competitor by name, but it comes hot on the heels of Alibaba coming under fire in the past week from the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) over alleged fake goods.

The row sent Alibaba shares to a record low before the two parties made peace, as top leaders in Beijing did not want either side to lose face.

“Governments, companies and consumers recognise that our zero-tolerance policy regarding fakes is backed up by our consistent actions and our track record – and is a major reason why more and more of China’s online shoppers are choosing JD.com,” said Liu.