The world’s biggest online shopping company is about to open in Australia, bringing with it fears of an influx of counterfeit goods.

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba recently announced it would be starting an arm in Australia because it saw “a lot of potential in the Australian market as Alibaba continues its globalisation efforts”.

But despite the company’s astronomical success and market leading position, there was still one big problem it battled to control: the counterfeit goods market.

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Luxury brands including Gucci, Alexander McQueen and Yves Saint Laurent have sued Alibaba, alleging it and some associated companies “knowingly encourage, assist and profit from the sale of counterfeits”.

This followed a 2015 probe into alleged counterfeit goods on Alibaba and affiliated websites by China’s State Administration for Industry and Commerce.

It was considered rare for the Chinese government to be so public in denouncing one of its biggest companies.

Alibaba was founded by now CEO Jack Ma, who as a result became one of Asia’s richest people.

Gucci is one of the brands angry with Alibaba over alleged counterfeiting. Photo: Getty

The e-commerce platform has a host of subsidiary business-to-business, consumer-to-business and consumer-to-consumer web portals.

It is considered the Chinese Amazon, only much bigger, and also offered cloud computing services. In 2015 Alibaba’s revenue was $A15.42 billion.

Director of the College of Business and Industry at Melbourne Polytechnic, and expert in Chinese-Australia business relations, Professor Mike Berrell, echoed the Chinese government’s concerns.

“At some estimates I have read there is about at any one time a considerable number of counterfeit products on many of Alibaba’s sites, and they’re very hard to trace,” Professor Berrell told The New Daily.

“So that’s a danger,” he said. “There is no reason we should give Chinese companies a second thought though, as long as they’re above board.”

In December 2015, a report from a United States trade representative alleged that one of Alibaba’s online stores, Taobao, should be looked at closely by its parent company for counterfeiting.

“Brand owners continue to report that Alibaba platforms, particularly Taobao, are used to sell large quantities of counterfeit goods,” the report said.

Alibaba took in more than $A15bn of revenue in 2015. Photo: Getty

Despite his concerns, Professor Berrell was excited about the prospect of Alibaba moving further into Australia.

“It’s a big advantage for Australia at this stage in a sense that it provides a channel for Australian brands to get into the Chinese market,” he said.

Alibaba would give no further details about its Australian plans to The New Daily, other than this statement:

“We aim to have dedicated country operations to work closely with Australian merchants and partners and it is our plan to establish an office in Australia in late 2016 to better help local brands and merchants to access to the Chinese consumer market.”

It was already possible for Australian firms to sell through Alibaba’s web portals, as it was possible for Australian consumers to buy through them.

Margaret River Wine Association CEO Nick Power represents many of those sellers.

He told The New Daily winemakers from his association had been selling into China through Alibaba-owned website 1688.com since late 2015.

“The greatest benefit for Australia and its fine wine regions is that we have the largest growth market for our wine products in China, so its a bit of a forgone conclusion that we should aim our efforts at that market,” Mr Power said.