Alibaba founder Jack Ma has claimed that counterfeit products are now better quality than their real counterparts.
Speaking at Alibaba’s offices in Hangzhou, China, Ma’s comments come amid concerns regarding the amount of fakes that are sold on its platforms including Taobao.
Alibaba was criticised by retailers of tolerating the sale of these counterfeits. Whilst Ma said that the company would do anything to tackle fakes, he also said,
“the problem is that the fake products today, they make better quality, better prices than the real names.”
He added that counterfeit manufacturers use “the exact factories, the exact same materials, but they do not use their names,” but also said that Alibaba was”more and more confident than ever that we can solve the problem.”
Taobao recently implemented tighter controls on its sale of luxury goods by requiring sellers to show proof of authenticity.
In May 2016, Alibaba was suspended from the International Anti Counterfeiting Coalition following piracy concerns. Over 250 members including Gucci and Michael Kors have said that they would leave the coalition in protest to Alibaba’s membership. Alibaba since have said that the coalition’s decision was a “step in the wrong direction and regrettable”.