‘Espionage’ inspection at Alibaba’s European headquarters

The Belgian intelligence service has been inspecting the main logistics center of the Alibaba Group Holding group in Europe for some time for fear of possible espionage.

According to the Financial Times, the security service said it was examining “possible acts of espionage or interference” by Chinese companies, including Alibaba, referring to the company’s logistics arm at the cargo airport in the city of Liège.

According to the report, Alibaba denied any illegal actions.

In 2018, Alibaba signed an agreement with the Belgian government to establish an e-commerce center to be managed by the company’s logistics arm, Cainiao. The agreement included investments in logistics infrastructure.

The story, based on people with knowledge of the matter, claims that the Belgian security service observed the company’s actions “following intelligence assessments” and carried out a detailed investigation of the software systems that collect sensitive economic information.

STATEMENT ‘THE ELEMENT TO CONSIDER’

In a statement to the Financial Times, the Belgian State Security Service (VSSE) said that Alibaba’s presence “constitutes an element of caution for VSSE” due to a draft law that would force Chinese companies to share their data with Chinese authorities and intelligence services.

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba filed last month to list Cainiao on the Hong Kong stock exchange. If the order is finalized, Cainiao will be the first unit to leave the company.

Alibaba announced it would restructure this year and split its business into six units.