E-commerce giants' legal battle shrouds Singles Day gala

"Double Eleven" was promoted as a shopping day by Alibaba in 2009, and Alibaba's online shopping platform Taobao.com has been breaking sales records on Singles Day year after year. Singles Day (Nov 11) has gradually become a national shopping gala, with JD.com emerging as a key competitor of Alibaba in the last three to four years.

Although e-commerce titans are endeavoring to expand their sales performance using new promotional methods, such as offering coupons and higher discounts, the legal battle between JD.com and Alibaba, China's e-commerce giants, deserves close attention.

JD.com sued Alibaba in the Beijing High People's Court, accusing it of misusing its dominant position in the market. JD.com has alleged that Alibaba is forcing online clothes and furniture enterprises as well as other companies to sign an "exclusive cooperation contract" which says that once a certain merchant decides to sell its products on Alibaba's e-commerce platform of Taobao or Tmall, it cannot enter into a contract with JD.com or any other e-commerce platform for the 618(June 18) or Double 11 shopping gala. It has also alleged that Alibaba's contract says that even if a merchant has launched an online store on JD.com, it has to shut it to participate in Alibaba's Singles Day sales.