With total online spending in the country expected to surge to USD 1 trillion by 2020, Chinas Ministry of Commerce wants to stop to so-called brushing activity on commercial websites, warc.com reports. As reported by the Wall Street Journal, cited by the source, brushing is the Chinese expression for a growing practice whereby vendors fake transactions and customer reviews.
Under the terms of a broader draft law, the Chinese government also wants to fine operators up to CNY 500,000 (USD 80,000) for failing to report it instances of such misbehaviour. Analysts and brands say the new rules could be a big step towards reducing the prevalence of counterfeit goods as well as grey-market goods, which are legal but sold cheaply, so potentially damaging a brands image.
For example, Elinor Leung, an analyst at Hong-Kong based investment group CLSA, observed that, before moving to a true consumption market in China, the current taskforce is an impending thing to do. Alibaba has claimed that it supports the governments initiative to promote the healthy development of Chinas ecommerce industry and has taken steps to raise the quality of its online shops.
Every day we send out a free e-mail with the most important headlines of the last 24 hours.
Subscribe now