More than 30 million yuan (NZD$6.79 million) worth of counterfeit products has been seized by police in southern China. The goods included large hauls of popular Australian-branded wines, vitamins, foods and cosmetics.
The fake Penfolds wines and Swisse and Blackmores supplements were confiscated in two separate operations, among other products. In a statement, Guangdong Police said they 'destroyed' four criminal groups comprising 22 suspects during the investigation into the counterfeit goods over the last two months.
In a similar case, police seized around NZ$2 million worth of wines that were fake Penfolds bottles mixed with real ones. Most of the counterfeits were sold through e-commerce websites and social media platforms like WeChat. Many of the counterfeit products were sold at a 1000 percent profit despite selling for a fifty percent discount compared to the real product.
China is reportedly the world leader in counterfeit goods. Around 240,000 online shops were shut down in 2017 for suspected counterfeit goods being sold.
