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If you have had an eye on what the eCommerce industry has been doing over the past ten years you’ll know that it has been developing at an absolutely breakneck pace, and at the moment it most certainly seems like there’s no end in sight. Things are looking good with the news that Chinese eCommerce spending is expected to break the US$1 trillion mark for the first time ever in 2017. However, the news that the report released by the law enforcement and inspection team of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, stating fake products are still a serious problem, will be a huge stick in the mud for China’s eCommerce industry.
According to the Beijing Business Times, the report was compiled from the group’s inspections of 14 different eCommerce product categories in 2014. It found that only 58.7 percent of the inspected goods were genuine, meaning the other 41.3 percent were fake. Fake here is a broad term, and it could include dangerous fake products like cosmetics with unlisted ingredients as well as brand-name clothing knock-offs and the like.
A further thorn in the side for the online commerce sector in China will be the report’s findings that eCommerce-related consumer complaints are up too. The China Consumers Association took in excess of 20,000 shopping-related consumer complaints in 2014 alone, and 92.3 percent of those were in regard to online purchases.
It is unclear how large the sample group used for these results was, and there’s no a full report available over the internet yet. So, in terms of the Ministry of Commerce team inspection of eCommerce products and their findings that around 40 percent of China’s eCommerce products are fakes, earlier this year, we need to wait until the report is published to understand the full extent.
Still, 40 percent fake is certainly not implausible if it were to include unlicensed products. Our advice is to stick to what recognised eCommerce website UK companies offer to ensure your purchases are genuine.