Brand knockoffs targeted by big data

Copyright protection chiefs from across China converged on Alibaba's headquarters on Tuesday to learn how the e-commerce giant's big data technology can help crack down on fake goods.

It was the first meeting of the Cloud Sword alliance, which aims to combat the scourge of counterfeit goods since it was expanded to 13 provincial areas in May.

Officials saw a presentation on how Alibaba has used big data to identify fake goods and to locate online store owners, affiliated dealers and factories suspected of producing or selling knockoffs. The information is then passed to local authorities.