Asian Tech Press (Feb 18) -- The U.S. has added for the first time Tencent's flagship social app WeChat and Alibaba Group's international Marketplace AliExpress to its latest "notorious markets" list.

The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR)'s office released its 2021 review of notorious markets for counterfeiting and piracy on Thursday. For the first time, AliExpress and the WeChat e-commerce ecosystem, two significant China-based online marketplaces, were included in its "notorious markets" list.

USTR listed 42 online markets and 35 physical markets on the list, alleging that they engaged in or facilitated "substantial trademark counterfeiting or copyright piracy."

The U.S. government said Tencent's WeChat and its China-facing version Weixin have become "one of the largest platforms for counterfeit goods in China." Of particular concern is that its seamless functionality across the WeChat platform facilitates the distribution and sale of counterfeit products.

USTR also noted that counterfeit goods sold on Alibaba's AliExpress have increased significantly. According to reports from intellectual property (IP) right holders, the international marketplace offers products that are blatantly advertised as counterfeit, as well as products that are falsely advertised as genuine.

In addition to WeChat and AliExpress, China-based e-commerce platforms Taobao and Pinduoduo, and Singapore's Shopee continue to be included on the "notorious markets" list.