U.S. Adds WeChat, AliExpress to Notorious Piracy Market List (2)

The U.S. added Chinese messaging platform WeChat and online marketplace AliExpress to its list of notorious markets for counterfeiting and piracy, an annual compilation of the worst intellectual-property abusers and counterfeiters.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.-owned AliExpress and Tencent Holdings Ltd.’s WeChat are “two significant China-based online markets that reportedly facilitate substantial trademark counterfeiting,” the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said in a statement accompanying the release of the 2021 review Thursday.

The USTR first started publishing the annual standalone list in 2011 to increase public awareness and help market operators and governments prioritize intellectual-property enforcement efforts. The ...