May 19, 2016 — Alibaba Group President Michael Evans told members of the International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition that Alibaba aims to be a leader in the fight against counterfeit products, renewing his call for companies and industries to work together with the China-based e-commerce giant.

Because of Alibaba’s size—its shopping sites have more than 400 million consumers, host tens of millions of sellers, and contain a billion individual product listings—Alibaba is uniquely positioned to help take on the global trade in fakes, a market estimated to be worth nearly $500 billion and growing, Evans said in a speech at the IACC’s annual meeting in Orlando, Florida.

“As the global leader in e-commerce, we have the responsibility to be the global leader in anti-counterfeiting,” Evans said. “We are 100% committed to fighting this battle ‚Ķ We have the scale, we have the data and we have the commitment.

But Alibaba, which frequently is accused of not doing enough to keep counterfeiters from using its marketplaces to sell intellectual-property infringing goods, can’t wage the battle alone, Evans said, despite the company’s extensive internal programs to find and remove online listings for fakes. “We see no other path than working closely with you, the brands,” Evans said.