The European Union has fined Alibaba-owned AliExpress a record €550 million ($630 million) for failing to prevent the sale of illegal, counterfeit, and unsafe products on its platform. The penalty was announced on July 20, 2026, after regulators found that AliExpress did not adequately remove prohibited items, including toys and cosmetics, from its marketplace, according to livemint.com.
EU authorities stated that despite identifying illegal listings, many products remained available on AliExpress for weeks. The investigation revealed that the platform took insufficient action to curb the sale of these prohibited goods. Alibaba has announced it will contest the fine, emphasizing its commitment to compliance and consumer safety, as reported by livemint.com.
This fine is the largest ever imposed by the EU on an e-commerce platform and highlights increasing regulatory scrutiny over online marketplaces. AliExpress is the largest Chinese e-commerce platform in the EU, with 193 million users, making this penalty significant in the context of cross-border digital trade and counterfeit goods enforcement, per livemint.com.
The EU’s decision underscores its strict approach to consumer protection and illegal product sales in digital commerce. Alibaba’s AliExpress faces ongoing pressure to improve its monitoring and removal of unsafe products, with the company’s response and any legal challenges expected to be closely watched by regulators and the industry alike, according to livemint.com.