China regulator blasts Alibaba for illegal business on its sites

The Chinese government has accused e-commerce titan Alibaba Group Holding Ltd of not paying enough attention to illegal business conducted on its platforms and failing to take effective steps to snuff it out. 

In unusually strong comments, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) said many products sold on Alibaba's e-commerce websites and through its services infringed upon trademarks, were substandard, illegally imported, had been banned or even endangered public security. 

Alibaba declined to provide immediate comment about the report released on Wednesday, which summarised a July 16, 2014, meeting between government business regulators and Alibaba. 

"Illegal business activities on Alibaba Group's platforms have for a long time failed to elicit sufficient attention, and (the company) for a long time has not adopted effective measures to address the situation," the report said. 

Alibaba adopted stricter standards on piracy and fake goods ahead of its record U.S. stock listing last year.