IP PROTECTION IN CHINA ’ S E-COMMERCE INDUSTRY
The scale of the world ’ s leading e-commerce platforms far eclipses any physical marketplace : each generates annual sales in the hundreds of billions of dollars and serves hundreds of millions of users . While Amazon dominates the US market , the three key firms in China ’ s e-commerce space are Alibaba ( through its marketplaces Taobao and Tmall ), Pinduoduo and JD . com .
This makes for a hugely competitive Chinese e-commerce environment : Alibaba , which established Taobao in 2003 , has 726 million annual shoppers ; Pinduoduo , which was founded in 2015 , has 628 million ; while JD . com , whose retail platform opened in 2004 , has 387 million . 7
These three capture the lion ’ s share of e-commerce sales in China : Alibaba recorded gross merchandise value ( GMV ) of RMB7.053 trillion ( US $ 1 trillion ) in its financial year to March 31 , 2020 ; 8 JD . com recorded RMB2.085 trillion ( US $ 300 billion ) GMV in its financial year to December 31 , 2019 ; 9 and Pinduoduo recorded RMB1.006 trillion ( US $ 145 billion ) GMV in its financial year to December 31 , 2019 . 10
When it comes to counterfeit goods , the enormous profits involved in such illegal activities have made that trade a huge global problem – particularly for e-commerce platforms . Counterfeiters are keen to use e-commerce platforms on the grounds that they offer :
ANNUAL ACTIVE BUYERS
|
800
700
600
|
Alibaba |
Pinduoduo |
JD . com |
Mar 20 : 726
Mar 20 : 628
|
500 |
|
|
|
|
400 |
|
|
|
Mar 20 : 387 |
300 |
|
|
|
|
200 |
|
|
|
|
100 |
|
|
|
|
0 |
|
|
|
|
Jun-12 |
Dec-12 |
Jun-13 |
Dec-13 |
Jun-14 |
Dec-14 |
Jun-15 |
Dec-15 |
Jun-16 |
Dec-16 |
Jun-17 |
Dec-17 |
Jun-18 |
Dec-18 |
Jun-19 |
Dec-19 |
Mar-20 |
Source : Company earnings statements
7
Alibaba and Pinduoduo surpass sales growth expectations , Financial Times ( May 22 , 2020 ). See : https :// www . ft . com / content / d0568176-2955-4c67-8bd5-b1f28a7cc9bb
8 https :// www . businesswire . com / news / home / 20200522005178 / en / Alibaba-Group-Announces-March-Quarter-Full-Fiscal
9 https :// ir . jd . com / static-files / f2659011-fdb4-4701-96cf-28f229f9b514 10 http :// investor . pinduoduo . com / news-release-details / pinduoduo-announces-fourth-quarter-and-fiscal-year-2019-unaudited
9