Alibaba Closes 240,000 Taobao Stores in 2017 to Crack Down on Fake Products, IP Infringement

MA XIAOHUA

(Yicai Global) Jan. 11 -- Chinas e-commerce giant Alibaba Holding Ltd. that runs popular trading platform Taobao.com tackled copyright and intellectual property infringement issues, closing a total of 240.000 online stores on Taobao in 2017. The company said the move led to a sharp decline in the number of customer complaints.

Alibaba closed the Taobao stores on suspicion of infringement, it said, adding the number of complaints concerning infringement of intellectual property rights fell 42 percent compared with the year earlier. Only 1.49 out of every 10,000 transactions involves suspected selling of fake goods, claims Alibabas annual report on intellectual property protection in 2017, which was released yesterday.

Last year, Alibabas anti-counterfeit team worked with law enforcement agencies from 23 provinces and municipalities across China to crack down on fake products, assisting the police to arrest 1,606 persons and destroying 1,328 hideouts with fake products valued at CNY4.3 billion (USD660 million), said the annual report.

During crackdown on fake products, we found that offline sites selling fake products continue to survive. Alibaba closed 180,000 stores in 2016 and the figure rose to 240,000 last year. Analysis of data showed that a number of stores selling fake products continued to sell counterfeits even after being closed, said Ye Zhifei, director of intellectual property protection and platform management department at Alibaba.

The cases handled by law enforcement agencies in several regions show that sources of fake goods remain active and concentrate on different regions, industries and fields across China. Division of labor in dens is well-organized and they are more capable of evading detection, said Cheng Jingkai, head of intellectual property rights unit of economic crime investigation team at the Zhejiang provincial public security department.

To secure more illegal benefits and escape crackdown, gangs selling counterfeit products even market them abroad and on other platforms. Some gangs started to sell fake goods on social media platforms like WeChat, and others established overseas websites to sell counterfeits through such social networks such as Facebook , Chen added.