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Xiaofei Xu

AliExpress, a cross-border shopping platform owned by Alibaba Group Holding, has vowed to fight a €550 million (US$629 million) fine it received from the European Union on Monday, after the EU accused the company of violating the bloc’s Digital Services Act (DSA).
“We are surprised by the EU decision and disproportionate fine and we disagree,” the firm said in a statement to the South China Morning Post.
The e-commerce firm vowed to appeal the decision, describing the fine as “disproportionate” and said it did not reflect the “significant, proactive enhancements” it had committed to undertake.
Alibaba had made “many improvements and voluntary commitments” to meet the evolving expectations under the DSA, according to the AliExpress statement.
Earlier Monday, the European Commission said in a statement that AliExpress had failed to “diligently assess risks” and “mitigate identified systemic risks” when it came to illegal, unsafe and counterfeit products spreading on its platform.
The platform also overestimated how effective its systems were at detecting and removing illegal goods and did not employ enough moderators for the workload, the Commission said.
Tests conducted by the Commission showed that illegal products – from counterfeits to unsafe toys and dangerous cosmetics – were recommended or advertised to consumers before being taken down and that “a high volume” of illegal listings continued to circulate despite AliExpress’ moderation efforts.
AliExpress has until October 20 to submit a plan to the Commission setting out how it intends to remedy the breaches identified, according to the statement.
Alibaba also owns the SCMP.
In a social media post on Monday, the EU’s industry chief Stephane Sejourne said the fine made the case that “the European single market is no longer a digital Far West”.
The fine is another example of Brussels’ enhanced regulation efforts against Chinese and American tech firms under its DSA and Digital Markets Act (DMA).
Temu, another Chinese e-commerce platform, was fined up to 6 per cent of its annual global sales for breaching the DSA.
Elon Musk’s social media platform X was handed a €120 million fine last December under the DSA – which triggered strong opposition from the Trump administration – while the Financial Times reported last week that Brussels was also preparing multiple fines worth “hundreds of millions of euros” against Google.
Additional reporting by Ann Cao


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The e-commerce firm described the fine as ‘disproportionate’ and said it did not reflect ‘significant, proactive enhancements’ it undertook


The e-commerce firm described the fine as ‘disproportionate’ and said it did not reflect ‘significant, proactive enhancements’ it undertook.


Alibaba vows to appeal US$629m EU fine for breaches of Digital Services Act

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The e-commerce firm described the fine as ‘disproportionate’ and said it did not reflect ‘significant, proactive enhancements’ it undertook

The e-commerce firm described the fine as ‘disproportionate’ and said it did not reflect ‘significant, proactive enhancements’ it undertook