Criticized for counterfeit sales, Alibaba slams AFAA for not speaking good enough Chinese

Alibaba and the American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA) have a long history. For years, the AFAA has been complaining about counterfeit apparel products on Alibaba sites (primarily Taobao), and Alibaba has responded that it is working hard on the problem. But now, things are getting a little bit snippy.

Last Friday, the AFAA sent an open letter to Jack Ma, asking Alibaba to address the issue of counterfeits “in a manner that is transparent, comprehensible, and fast.” Among its specific requests: that Alibaba work with AFAA “to establish an English-language process to certify brand owners.”

Alibaba intellectual property protection and innovation senior manager Wang Bo is apparently sick of the criticism, though. On Monday, Wang fired back that the AFAA “needs to improve its Chinese-language communication abilities.” Wang also said that Alibaba has “explained its IP rights protection procedures repeatedly” to the AFAA over the years, but gotten “no response” from the AFAA.

It’s not clear who’s telling the truth in the he-said-she-said between Alibaba and the AFAA, but there’s no question that the Chinese ecommerce site still has trouble with counterfeit products, including apparel. If you search for the right phrases, it’s easy to find hundreds of articles of counterfeit apparel on Taobao in seconds: take, for example, these “SF Giants” search results that clearly include plenty of not-officially-licensed products.

In response, an Alibaba spokesperson gave this statement to Tech in Asia: “We reiterate our dedication to fight against counterfeits because the health and integrity of our marketplaces depend on consumer trust. We work closely with our government partners, brands and widened our coalition with industry associations to tackle this issue at its source. Our track record of fighting illicit activities is clear and like all global companies in our industry, we must continue to do everything we can to stop these activities.”

Update on 22 July: Added Alibaba’s statement.