Owner of AliExpress under the investigation of authorities. Is he a spy?

Belgian services are monitoring the logistics center of Alibaba Group, the owner of the AliExpress store, due to suspicions of espionage - reports "Financial Times." The conglomerate has "drawn attention to itself" because of regulations forcing Chinese companies to provide data to Chinese authorities and services.

Belgian special services are monitoring the logistics center of the Chinese corporation Alibaba Group Holding Limited located in Liege, due to suspicions of espionage activities taking place there - reported by the "Financial Times" on Thursday.

The Belgian State Security Service (VSSE) is undertaking actions aimed at detecting "potential espionage or interventional activities" by Chinese economic entities, including Alibaba - the British newspaper reported.

In 2018, the Alibaba Group signed an agreement with the Belgian government to launch an electronic commerce (e-commerce) center managed by Cainiao, a logistics company under the group.

VSSE told "FT" that the Alibaba corporation "has attracted the attention of the services" due to regulations forcing Chinese companies to share their data with Chinese authorities and intelligence services. Representatives of Alibaba Group deny that any illegal activities were conducted on the premises of the logistics center.

Alibaba Group Holding Limited is a Chinese company established in 1999 by businessman Jack Ma, one of the wealthiest Chinese people. It is the largest company operating in the e-commerce industry in the People's Republic of China. AliExpress is part of the Alibaba group.