Online 'brushing' hard to combat

As Chinese authorities move to curb the practice of "brushing" - falsely boosting merchant credibility ratings on e-commerce platforms - a report from the United States illustrates just what a hard task they could be facing.

The Ministry of Commerce said last week that it wants operators of retail platforms like Alibaba's Taobao to ban vendors who falsify ratings. Operators could face fines of up to 500,000 yuan ($80,600) for failing to provide relevant information about such practices, according to a draft law.

But according to the new report, published by the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, and highlighted in The Wall Street Journal, brushing is already a growing "underground industry that employs sophisticated methods to cater to online sellers who want to quickly boost their online reputations".