Chinese publisher to take action against Pinduoduo for pirated book sales

BEIJING - People's Literature Publishing House has announced that it will take legal action against the online group discounter Pinduoduo for selling pirated books.

A large number of books found on the platform infringed on the legal rights and interests of the publishers, including titles such as Red Star over China, The Long March, Fortress Besieged, The Dream of the Red Chamber, Three Kingdoms, Journey to the West and the Harry Potter series, according to the publisher.

Most of the pirated books were sold at a discount of over 50 percent, much lower than the highest discount offered by the publisher, the publisher said.

By July 27, more than 100,000 pirated copies of Red Star over China were sold on Pinduoduo, along with more than 50,000 pirated copies of The Long March and over 50,000 volumes from the Harry Potter series, according to the publisher.

The State Administration for Market Regulation on Thursday ordered local market regulators to crack down on the production and sale of counterfeit and shoddy goods after alleged violations by Pinduoduo sparked heated discussion.

Founded in 2015, Shanghai-based Pinduoduo is a third-party e-commerce platform with over 300 million active users. It sells discounted products by incorporating social networking into online shopping. The company debuted on the Nasdaq stock exchange on July 26.