Suits you, sir: Look like Xi, just 999!

Copies of the garb worn by global leaders at this week's APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Beijing are sold online. [Wang Zhuangfei / China Daily]

Chinese e-commerce sites have been quick to offer shoppers a chance to get that "world leader look" by selling copies of the garb worn by global leaders Xi Jinping, Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin at this week's APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Beijing.[Special coverage]

Admiring the high-collared silk tunics, a trader with shops on Taobao.com was inspired to copy the leaders' look.

It is a tradition at Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation gatherings for leaders to don the national dress of the host country for a "family photo".

The custom began in 1993 when Bill Clinton, then the US president, handed out leather bomber jackets to leaders in Seattle.

The New Chinese Suits this year prompted entrepreneurs to sell knock-offs online.

"This will be the hit of this year," said Zhang, the trader. "The celebrity effect will sell the suits in China and overseas."

The next day, he found that searches for the suits exceeded 3,000 on Taobao.com, the country's leading online trading platform of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.

By Thursday, Zhang had more than 100 orders. Most were for customers' parents or group uniforms for retirees' community events, he said.

"They are very popular, but customers have to wait 20 days as it takes time to tailor them," said a retailer who sells the suits at 999 yuan ($163).

She insisted that her company's designers made some changes, so these are not mere replicas but "adjustments" incorporating current fads.

Zhang said he was approached by Taobao.com on Thursday to remove the item tagged "APEC suits" for some reason.

He believed the possibility of intellectual property infringement might have played a major role.

By Thursday afternoon, no search results under the relevant key words were shown.

Ma Zengwei, a lawyer quoted by the Beijing Times, said that if the original designs had been trademarked, the online shops could be suspected of infringement.