JD ventures into southeast Asian markets

E-commerce giant JD.com and its financial affiliate JD Finance said it would set up joint ventures with a total investment of US$500 million to expand into southeast Asian markets.

Thailand retail conglomerate Central Group will contribute to half of the investment with the remaining coming from JD.com, JD Finance and southeast Asian VC firm Provident Capital.

JD.com said it will provide its extensive expertise in technology, e-commerce and logistics to the e-commerce joint venture.

Central Group will leverage its physical stores networks and brand and merchant partnerships as well as consumer insights gathered from its customer loyalty card “The 1 Card” to allow its stores and brands to open up online stores on the Chinese e-commerce platform.

JD Finance will leverage its artificial intelligence and cloud computing technologies as Chinese Internet companies are now betting on globalization for the next stage of development.

“Thailand’s large population and developed infrastructure, including strong national logistics networks, give it tremendous potential for both e-commerce and fintech services,” JD.com chairman and chief executive officer Liu Qiangdong said in a statement.

"Thailand's mobile-driven population, with its increasing consumer spending power, means that e-commerce is ready to explode, and this partnership is poised to capture the country's consumers as they migrate online," commented Tos Chirathivat, chief executive officer of Central Group.