Alibaba, quality watchdog agree on joint efforts to counter fakes

People walk at the headquarters of Alibaba in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, April 23, 2014. [Photo/Agencies]

BEIJING - China's top quality watchdog has given its seal of approval to quality control efforts by Alibaba, the country's largest e-commerce groups.

The task of improving product quality requires the concerted efforts of society, director of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) Zhi Shuping said on Monday during a meeting with Alibaba's chairman Ma Yun.

Zhi told Ma that quality was Alibaba's bread and butter and it should live up to this responsibility, according to statement published on Tuesday on AQSIQ's website.

This was the second meeting between Ma and the market regulator after Alibaba's Taobao.com, the largest shopping website in China, butted heads with the authority over product quality in January.

Ma met with head of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) on Jan 30, drawing a line under the quarrel by mutual concession.

Zhi said Alibaba should lead quality and integrity efforts, and should cooperate with official supervision.

Ma promised that the group would, with the support of enterprises, the government and other social forces, come down hard on those selling counterfeit goods.

AQSIQ will reinforce supervision of the e-commerce sector and help businesses in ensuring their goods are authentic, Zhi said. He added that the authority would undertake spot checks and source tracking to eliminate fakes from the market.

An SAIC sample test published on Jan 23 gave Taobao.com the lowest rank in terms of certified product rate.