Alibaba hired the man who helped Apple to clamp down on fake iPhones

Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce giant, has hired Matthew Bassiur to track down counterfeit items on the website, Bloomberg reports.

Bassiur previously worked at Apple, helping the company stamp out fake iPhones and investigating intellectual property theft. His work at Alibaba will, the company hopes, rid the website of counterfeit goods.

Alibaba CEO Jack Ma has set his sights on expanding Alibaba outside of China, which means cutting down on the number of fake, or illegitimate, goods, according to Bloomberg.

"We will continue to be relentless in our long-term commitment to protect both consumers and intellectual property rights owners," said Ma on Monday.

Before Apple, Bassiur worked at Pfizer, the pharmaceutical company, and in the US Department of Justice. He starts at Alibaba in January, according to the company.