Alibaba says it spent one billion renmimbi (€131.9m-$160.8m) in the 12 months ended on Nov. 30 to combat the sale of counterfeited goods online, engaging a task force of more than 2,000 people that will be expanded by a further 200 in the next year. Some 5,400 volunteers have also been enlisted to assist in daily surveillance. Among other things, mapping of transaction data has revealed that 60 percent of counterfeit outdoor sporting goods come from Southeast China. The big Chinese online retailing platform, which previously sold fakes through Taobao, says it worked with Chinese authorities in more than 1,000 counterfeiting cases in the past year, leading to them to arrest 400 suspects from 18 counterfeiting rings and to close 200 factories, warehouses and physical stores. It cooperated with 1,137 brand owners in all sectors to identify and removed infringing products from its marketplaces. These and other statements on the issue were made by Jonathan Lu, chief executive of Alibaba, in a speech that can be read on the company's website.

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