The antitrust watchdog will impose sanctions on AliExpress for violating e-commerce regulations

The European Fair Trade Commission has opened formal proceedings to impose sanctions on Chinese e-commerce giant AliExpress for alleged breaches of e-commerce regulations.

On Monday, the FTC recently released a review report outlining sanctions against AliExpress for failing to provide the government with basic information about its business, according to industry sources.

Under the E-Commerce Consumer Protection Act, e-commerce platform operators are required to report their company name, e-mail address, internet domain name and server location to the local government when they start operating there, which AliExpress said it failed to do. Down.

In September 2023, AliExpress registered its Korean subsidiary AliExpress Korea with the Seoul City Government, with its registered office in Jung-gu, Seoul and server location in Geumcheon-gu. The representative was documented as Hui Yat Sin Cindy, 45 years old, a Chinese national residing in Hong Kong.

However, the FTC claims that AliExpress Korea is not the actual operator, as the platform’s main operations and management are still located at AliExpress’ headquarters in Hong Kong.

The FTC is expected to meet to decide on sanctions once it receives an official response from AliExpress.

“We respect the Korean government and industry and will maintain contact with regulatory agencies and relevant government departments,” an AliExpress official said on Monday, adding that the company was committed to strictly complying with Korean laws and regulations.

The FTC is also investigating Temu and Shein, two other Chinese e-commerce platforms operating in Korea, for similar potential violations.

Meanwhile, the antitrust watchdog is closely examining e-commerce platforms’ breaches of consumer privacy.

Both AliExpress and Temu have provisions that allow user data to be shared with third parties, raising concerns about the potential for consumer information to be leaked overseas in Korea. Other concerns include allegations of deceptive online promotions.