Bulletins

Amazon has banned 3,000 Chinese seller accounts

It says it's not targeting China.

Amazon delivery driver

Since early 2021, Amazon has banned many Chinese third-party sellers, causing a wave of panic in China's lucrative cross-border ecommerce industry.

Image: Amazon

Amazon has banned a total of approximately 600 Chinese third-party brands and 3,000 related third-party seller accounts in a crackdown this year, Cindy Tai, the company's vice president of Asia global selling, told Chinese media on Friday.

Tai made the comments at a local event in Hangzhou, China where Amazon announced it would work with the local government to train Chinese sellers.

Since early 2021, Amazon has banned many Chinese third-party sellers, causing a wave of panic in China's lucrative cross-border ecommerce industry. These 3,000 accounts are permanently terminated, Tai said, as they have repeatedly abused the reviews function after Amazon issued several warnings, according to Chinese publication Sina Tech.

Tai emphasized that Amazon's actions aren't targeting Chinese sellers. "Regardless of the size or nationality of the seller, we are treating them in the same way. The treatment of these accounts is not influenced by any external factors, including political factors," she said.

It's the first time an Amazon executive has publicly talked about the details of this year's crackdown. But the numbers given by Amazon are much smaller than earlier industry estimates. Previously, a local trade group in Shenzhen, China estimated that over 50,000 Chinese seller accounts had been impacted since May.

Zeyi Yang

Zeyi Yang is a former reporter with Protocol | China. Previously, he worked as a reporting fellow for the digital magazine Rest of World, covering the intersection of technology and culture in China and neighboring countries. He has also contributed to the South China Morning Post, Nikkei Asia, Columbia Journalism Review, among other publications. In his spare time, Zeyi co-founded a Mandarin podcast that tells LGBTQ stories in China. He has been playing Pokemon for 14 years and has a weird favorite pick.

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