China's Alibaba spent $160m fighting fake goods

Alibaba says costumer complaints on fakes have
fallen by 22% from last year.......

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba says it has
spent more than $160m (£103m) fighting fake
goods on its websites from the beginning of 2013
to November of this year.
The company will add another 200 people next
year to the 2,000 workers tackling counterfeit
goods on its sites.
That is in addition to the 5,400 volunteers who are
already involved in its daily online surveillance
plan.
The prevalence of fake goods in China is still a big
problem.
Before its record-setting $25bn listing in New
York, the world's largest e-commerce company
had said in its IPO prospectus that counterfeits
goods could hurt its ability to win customers,
investors and US retail partners.
In comparison, US e-commerce site eBay said in a
court filing in 2010 that it spends up to $20m a
year on "buyer protection programs" such as
reimbursing buyers for fake goods bought on its
site.
'Serious' battle
"We bear a serious responsibility in this fight
against counterfeits," said Jonathan Lu, chief
executive of Alibaba Group in a statement on
Tuesday .
"Jack Ma [company's chairman] said yesterday - if
e-commerce does well in China, that may have
little to do with Alibaba Group, but if counterfeits in
society are not tackled effectively, it has a lot to do
with Alibaba Group."
The tech giant's retail businesses were listed on
the US Trade Representatives list of "notorious
markets" for intellectual property (IP) infringement
until 2012.
China and Hong Kong accounted for 93% of the
value of IP-infringing goods seized by US customs
in the 2013 fiscal year, according to a government
report.
While Alibaba has been aggressive in its push to
remove knock-offs from its sites, the mission has
been an uphill battle.
Last month, when the company's annual Singles'
Day saw over $9bn in sales, the official State
Administration of Industry and Commerce (SAIC)
conducted an investigation on counterfeits sold
that day.
It said more than 10% of the goods that it bought
online from retailers were fake or highly
suspicious.
Alibaba said it had co-operated with Chinese
authorities in over 1,000 counterfeiting cases just
this year.