Fancy a cut-price case of the Barossa Valley's famous "Benfords" wine? China's third-largest online shopping platform Pinduoduo might have just the right deal for you.

Key points: Pinduoduo has emerged as an online shopping powerhouse in China

Pinduoduo has emerged as an online shopping powerhouse in China The platform has come under fire for selling copycat and counterfeit goods

The platform has come under fire for selling copycat and counterfeit goods Rip-offs of famous Australian wines sell better than the genuine article

Pinduoduo rose to global prominence last week after debuting on the Nasdaq with a valuation of $US24 billion ($32.6 billion), cementing its place as a rival to China's e-commerce giants Alibaba and JD.com.

The three-year-old company has a social-shopping business model: users get discounts of up to 90 per cent, plus special bonuses, if they share a product listing with friends on social media and each buy the product as a group.

Bargain prices have seen the company rise to popularity in China's poorer cities and rural areas, markets that have been largely ignored in the country's online shopping boom.

But the large amount of counterfeit and copy-cat goods being sold on Pinduoduo has already landed the company in hot water, and it is now facing lawsuits, media criticism and an investigation by Chinese regulators.

'Benfords' a popular drop on Pinduoduo

One merchant on Pinduoduo has sold more than 1,000 six-bottle cases of its "Benfords Hyland" wine. ( Pinduoduo )

Hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of imitation Australian wines are being sold on the platform, alongside knock-offs of luxury brands like Chanel and Gucci.

A quick search for Australian wines on Pinduoduo turned up several listings for products bearing a notable resemblance to Australia's famed Penfolds wines, owned by Treasury Wine Estates.

"The wine was made of best grapes in the world and with international advanced technics [sic]," one label reads.

"It is clarity and has full-bodied fruit-smell, vinosity and long after-taste."

One merchant on the platform alone had sold more than 1,000 six-bottle cases of their "Benfords Hyland" wine at $117 a case — marked down from $278 — and with a free case thrown in with every purchase.

'We are not the same company as Penfolds'

Many of the imitation Penfolds wines drum-up their authenticity in their Pinduoduo listings. ( Pinduoduo )

The issue of imitation products is not unique to Pinduoduo — the company behind the "Benfords" listing, Shujianxiang Liquor Store, was also selling them on competitor site JD.com where it is recognised as a verified seller.

An employee at Shujianxiang Liquor Store told the ABC the company had no relationship with the Penfolds brand, but maintained the product was a genuine Australian wine sourced from the Barossa Valley.

"Benfords" wines seem to come up more frequently on Pinduoduo than the genuine article. ( Pinduoduo )

However, some of their branding online features the word "Penfolds" in English, and also uses Penfolds' registered Chinese trademark "Ben Fu" (奔富).

"We are not the same company [as Penfolds] … you can contact our winemaker because we are a legitimate brand with a registered trademark," the employee, who declined to be named, said.

The company's winemaker declined to answer questions about the "Benfords" brand wines.

A Treasury Wine Estates spokesperson said the company takes copycat and counterfeit products seriously, and has an aggressive brand protection program in place to focus on both offline and online enforcement.

"We do of course work closely with local authorities, online marketplaces and industry organisations to protect the integrity of our brands," the spokesperson said in a statement.

Wine Australia General Counsel Rachel Triggs said she was aware the sale of copycat wines was an issue, however the peak industry body's new export licensing powers cannot reach across borders.

Wines that seem to imitate Australia's Yellow Tail are also available on Pinduoduo.

"We can act to prevent exports that breach our export guidelines, or when we consider that labels may infringe intellectual property-related laws in the destination country," she said.

Wine Australia last month suspended the export license of a company that had been selling Penfolds lookalikes to Chinese buyers.

Chinese authorities seized more than $6.3 million worth of counterfeit Australian goods in May, a haul that also included imitation Penfolds wines.

'This new model can get them into trouble'

Pinduoduo debuted on the Nasdaq little more than a week ago, but is already under investigation. ( Reuters: Mike Segar )

China's powerful State Administration for Market Regulation this week called on Shanghai authorities to investigate Pinduoduo, specifically over the sale of copy-cat products and counterfeit goods.

The move from the regulator came after companies both inside and outside of China took the e-commerce platform to task over violations of their intellectual property.

The Chinese television maker Skyworth has asked Pinduoduo to stop selling counterfeits of their products, while an American diaper manufacturer is taking the company to court over similar concerns.

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In a statement, Pinduoduo said it had met with Shanghai regulators and is working diligently to eliminate the sale of counterfeit goods on the platform.

It said it removed more than 10.7 million "problem goods" last year, and that merchants found to be selling counterfeits had been permanently banned.

"We fully recognise the need to redouble our efforts, in order to meet public expectations of our company," the statement said.

Sandy Shen, research director at advisory firm Gartner, said Pinduoduo was a go-to market channel for small merchants who did not have brand recognition — however copy-cat products were the flip side of this.

"You help those smaller merchants reach out to customers by giving them a direct-to-consumer channel, but on the other hand most of those merchants try to get sneaky with the branding," she said.

Bain & Company analyst Jason Ding said concerns over the quality of products on Pinduoduo could undermine the company's future prospects.

"If a large percentage of the products sold there are either defective or have other copyright, trademark legal issues, then this new model can get them into trouble," he said.