EU fines AliExpress €550 million for selling dangerous and illegal goods — Freedom

The European Commission has imposed a €550 million fine on Chinese marketplace AliExpress for failing to comply with the requirements of the Digital Services Act (DSA). This is the largest penalty issued under the new European legislation regulating the activities of major online platforms.

Why the European Commission raised objections to AliExpress 

Following its investigation, the European Commission concluded that AliExpress did not provide sufficient oversight of the listing and sale of illegal, dangerous, and counterfeit goods. The identified violations include unsafe toys, cosmetics that do not meet safety requirements, as well as fake products. The regulator pointed to the inadequate effectiveness of mechanisms for detecting and removing such listings from the platform.

AliExpress stated that it considers the size of the fine disproportionate, emphasizing that the company has already significantly strengthened its risk management systems and continues to cooperate with European regulators. In October, the platform must submit a plan to remedy the identified violations.

Freedom Broker analyst Natalia Milchakova notes that eliminating the identified violations will not pose a serious problem for the Chinese marketplace. The company has the necessary technological resources and experience in modernizing internal control systems, and therefore can significantly reduce the number of such goods on the platform over the coming months.

About AliExpress

AliExpress is an international e-commerce platform within the Alibaba Group. The marketplace brings together millions of sellers and buyers worldwide, offering a wide range of goods—from electronics and apparel to home products. Europe remains one of the company’s largest overseas markets, so compliance with European regulation is of strategic importance for AliExpress.

Other news on Alibaba and China’s tech sector

Earlier, we wrote that the Pentagon added Alibaba, Baidu, and BYD to a list of companies that, in the view of U.S. authorities, are linked to the Chinese armed forces. The news heightened geopolitical risks for a number of China’s крупнейших corporations and drew increased investor attention.

Freedom Broker also analyzed Alibaba’s financial results for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026. The company’s revenue rose 3% year over year to 243.4 billion yuan, but fell short of analysts’ expectations.

At the same time, revenue from the cloud division increased by 38%, while operating performance turned negative for the first time in several years: the company posted an operating loss of 848 million yuan versus a profit a year earlier. Adjusted EBITA declined by 84%, driven by large-scale investments in artificial intelligence, cloud infrastructure, and e-commerce development. Despite growth in certain business lines, investors pointed to a slowdown in the pace of development and pressure on profitability.

Another important piece of news for China’s tech sector was Baidu’s plans to pay dividends for the first time and allocate up to $5 billion to share buybacks. The decision was received positively by investors and served as a signal of the company’s intent to increase shareholder value.

Not an individual investment recommendation.