Industry news
Counterfeits often better quality says Jack Ma
Counterfeits
often better quality, says Alibaba's Jack Ma
Many
Chinese-made counterfeit products are now of "better quality" than
the genuine article, the founder of ecommerce giant Alibaba has said.
Jack Ma's
comments at Alibaba's offices in Hangzhou, China, come amid concerns about the
numbers of fakes for sale on its platforms like Taobao.
Screen protector making machines from Shenzhen YTD Co., Ltd.
Alibaba has been
accused by other retailers of tolerating the sale of counterfeits.
But Mr Ma said
the company would "do anything" to tackle the fakes.
"The
problem is that the fake products today, they make better quality, better
prices than the real names," he said on Tuesday.
"The exact
factories, the exact same materials, but they do not use their names."
But he said
Alibaba was "more and more confident than ever that we can solve the
problem."
Taobao,
Alibaba's popular online shopping platform, tightened controls earlier last
month on its sale of luxury goods, requiring sellers to show proof of
authenticity.
China's People's
Daily newspaper also reported that authorities were launching a campaign to
clean up e-commerce, counterfeit and poor quality products.
In May, Alibaba
was suspended from the International Anti Counterfeiting Coalition (IACC)
watchdog over piracy concerns.
More than 250
members, including Gucci America and Michael Kors, had said they would leave
the IACC in protest at Alibaba's membership.
The company
later said the IACC's decision was a "step in the wrong direction and
regrettable".