Chinese tech giants Alibaba and Tencent are listed on the United States ’‘ piracy market list ’for being found to be involved in the counterfeit goods business.
The list released by the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has identified a total of 42 online markets and 35 physical markets involved in trademark counterfeiting and pirated goods.
According to a USTR spokesperson, Alibaba's AliExpress and Tencent's WeChat from China have been listed for the first time over the issue of trademark forgery on its platform.
In addition to the 2 platforms, there are several other Chinese online markets listed such as Baidu Wangpan, Pinduoduo and Taobao, while 9 other physical markets have also been identified to make, distribute and sell pirated goods.
Tencent has responded by stating its stance to reject the listing decision and also expressed its commitment to work collaboratively to resolve the issue.
In addition, Alibaba also said they would work with government agencies to curb intellectual property problems across its platforms.
As a result of this issue, tensions between the two countries are seen to rise again.
For the record, the USTR first released a ‘list of piracy markets’ in 2006, which aims to protect U.S. businesses and workers from engaging in cheap counterfeit goods activities from abroad.
And it is common knowledge that China is quite famous for producing counterfeit goods despite interfering with the World Trade Organization.
