NewAlibaba vows closer cooperation with Chinese government in battle against fake goods

Alibaba has vowed to work more closely with the Chinese government as part of stepped-up efforts to tackle the sale of counterfeit products on the company’s e-commerce platforms. But the pledge is seen as unlikely to head off the prospect of more lawsuits from brands that are claiming infringed copyright.

Chairman Jack Ma Yun admitted inadequacies in his company’s management of fake goods sold on its platforms in a statement carried on the website of a government regulator that also stressed the increased co-operation with officials.

“As a well known e-commerce company, Alibaba has made great effort to tackle fake goods, but gaps and inadequacies remained,” said Ma during a meeting on Monday with Zhi Shuping, head of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), which posted the statement.

Alibaba would share sales transaction data with the government as part of the heightened push against fakes making their way on to the firm’s online platforms, Ma said in the statement, citing the use of so-called big data.

Zhi said mainland regulators would implement 10 measures to combat the problem, without listing them. They were aimed at strengthening the regulators’ ability to inspect the quality of goods sold online, increase their s support for e-commerce companies’ efforts to ensure product quality and step up punishment of offenders, Zhi said.

A row over counterfeit goods flared up last month when another regulator, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC), released a white paper that accused Taobao, an Alibaba retail platform of allowing a high number of fake and substandard goods to be sold.