Dive Brief:

• French insurer AXA announced a partnership on Friday with Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba and its financial arm Ant Financial to provide insurance products to Chinese consumers through Alibaba's e-commerce platforms.
• Under the deal, AXA will offer insurance to small and medium sized firms on Alibaba’s wholesale marketplaces; insurance products like warranties for repairs and more secure payment protections to retail consumers on AliExpress, Alibaba’s global marketplace; and travel insurance for Chinese travelers going abroad through Ant Financial, an Alibaba affiliate and China’s largest online payments system. 
• Following reports of counterfeits sold on Alibaba's marketplaces, the deal aims to foster a "safe trading environment" for brands and consumers using the company's e-commerce platforms, Michael Evans, president of the Alibaba Group, said in a statement.

Dive Insight:

For Alibaba, the deal with AXA represents a visible step to consumers and brands using its marketplaces that the company is actively trying to keep fakes out. 

Alibaba has claimed for years it is cracking down on counterfeits sold on its online global marketplace. Between 2013 and 2014, the e-commerce giant reportedly spent nearly $161 million to fight the so-called “grey market.” But the company has such a reputation for allowing knock-offs to run rampant that the International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition suspended Alibaba’s membership in May, following calls to do so by global brands like Gucci America and Michael Kors.

The company’s slow response to stop the sale of knockoffs has created distrust among many brands. Executive Chairman and Founder Jack Ma only intensified those frustrations last month after he suggested that many counterfeit goods sold on the marketplace were of better quality than the authentic products they mimic. 

Ma later tried to walk back those remarks, clarifying in an op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal that he meant the internet and the changing manufacturing landscape in China—where many factories are shuttering or shrinking in the face of declining demand as operations move elsewhere—are leading some manufacturers to “innovate” and produce their own high-quality goods to sell directly to consumers.

Alibaba’s step to offer insurance on products is just one of several recent initiatives to calm fears over fakes. Earlier this month, Alibaba launched its new IP Joint-Force System, an online platform designed to streamline intellectual property-related communications between brands and the company. The system expands on its 2015 Good Faith Takedown program, which aims to expedite the notice-takedown process for brands that submit valid counterfeit complaints and has gained participation from more than 700 brands.

It's unclear if these moves will pay off and temper fears from consumers and brands alike. Alibaba has been under pressure for years—from brands as well as officials in the U.S. and China itself—to improve its record in counterfeit sales. Last year, Alibaba assisted authorities in the arrests of 300 people, the takedown of counterfeit-making factories, and the confiscation of fakes worth $125 million, according to Alibaba president Michael Evans.

Even so, brands report that Alibaba’s enforcement program is too slow, too difficult to use and also lacks transparency, according to a report last year from the U. S. Trade Representative. “Brand owners continue to report Alibaba platforms, particularly Taobao, are used to sell large quantities of counterfeit goods,” according to that report.