bodyType

customContents

entityId

printArticlePageQuery

filter

article

body

urlAlias

articleSectionsContent

articleSeoArticle

articleSourceHeaderArticle

contentSchemaRenderContent

contentSubHeadlineContent

contentHeadlineContent

mainImagePrintArticleArticle

authorBlockPrintArticleArticle

contentSponsorTagContent

articlePianoPaywallContent

scmpYoutubeContent

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

query printArticlePageQuery(
  $entityId: String!
  $customContents: [CustomContentInput]
  $bodyType: BodyFormatTypeEnum
) {
  article(filter: {entityId: $entityId}) {
    entityId
    body(customContents: $customContents, type: $bodyType) {
      json
    }
    urlAlias
    ...articleSectionsContent
    ...articleSeoArticle_3o8td4
    ...articleSourceHeaderArticle
    ...contentSchemaRenderContent
    ...contentSubHeadlineContent
    ...contentHeadlineContent
    ...mainImagePrintArticleArticle
    ...authorBlockPrintArticleArticle
    ...contentSponsorTagContent
    ...articlePianoPaywallContent
    ...scmpYoutubeContent
    ...hooksTrackPageViewArticle
    id
  }
}

fragment articlePianoPaywallContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...hooksPaywallPromiseContent
}

fragment articleSectionsContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  sections {
    value {
      ...helpersCheckIfNewsSectionInFirstIndexSection
      ...entityLink
      name
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment articleSeoArticle_3o8td4 on Article {
  ...hooksArticleSeoArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
  ...helpersGetArticleTypeArticle
  entityId
  publishedDate
  updatedDate
  summary {
    text
  }
  subHeadline {
    text
  }
  body(customContents: $customContents, type: $bodyType) {
    text
  }
  keywords
  sections {
    value {
      name
      id
    }
  }
  topics {
    name
    entityId
    id
  }
  urlAlias
  authors {
    name
    id
  }
  images {
    style(filter: {style: "768x768"}) {
      url
    }
  }
  readingTime
}

fragment articleSourceHeaderArticle on Article {
  urlAlias
  ...entityLink
}

fragment authorBlockPrintArticleArticle on Article {
  ...defaultArticleDateContent
  ...authorNamesArticle
}

fragment authorNameAuthor on Author {
  ...entityLink
  name
  entityUuid
}

fragment authorNamesArticle on Article {
  authorLocations
  authors {
    entityId
    location
    ...authorNameAuthor
    id
  }
}

fragment blockquoteQuoteContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...contentShareWidgetContent
}

fragment checkersCheckContentContainsStarlingImageContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  topics {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment contentHeadlineContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  headline
  socialHeadline
  ...contentHeadlineTagContent
  ...helpersUseContentSponsorContent
}

fragment contentHeadlineTagContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...hooksContentHeadlineTagContent
}

fragment contentNewsletterWidgetContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  topics {
    relatedNewsletters {
      ...helpersMassageToNewsletterItemNewsletter
      id
    }
    id
  }
  sections {
    value {
      relatedNewsletters {
        ...helpersMassageToNewsletterItemNewsletter
        id
      }
      id
    }
  }
  ... on Article {
    relatedNewsletters {
      ...helpersMassageToNewsletterItemNewsletter
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment contentSchemaRenderContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...blockquoteQuoteContent
  ...imageContent
  ...inlineWidgetContent
  ...photoGalleryWidgetContent
  ...scmpYoutubeContent
}

fragment contentShareWidgetContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  entityId
  urlAlias
  shortUrl
  socialHeadline
  headline
}

fragment contentSponsorTagContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...helpersUseContentSponsorContent
}

fragment contentSubHeadlineContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  subHeadline {
    json
  }
  summary {
    json
  }
  ...contentSchemaRenderContent
}

fragment defaultArticleDateContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...hooksArticleDateUtilsContent
}

fragment entityLink on BaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias {
  __isBaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias: __typename
  __typename
  entityId
  entityUuid
  urlAlias
  urlRedirect {
    toUrl
    id
  }
  application {
    entityId
    id
  }
  ... on Section {
    fullSectionPath {
      entityId
      id
    }
    parentSection
  }
  ...helpersAppBarVariantBase
  ...helpersApplicationBase
  ...helpersCheckIsPlusArticle
  ...helpersStyleSectionContent
}

fragment helpersAppBarVariantBase on BaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias {
  __isBaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias: __typename
  ...helpersCheckIsLiveArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPlusPage
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesPage
  ...helpersCheckIsPostMagazineArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsStyleArticle
  ...helpersSectionContent
  ...helpersStyleSectionContent
}

fragment helpersApplicationBase on BaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias {
  __isBaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias: __typename
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesPage
  ...helpersCheckIsPlusPage
}

fragment helpersCheckIfNewsSectionInFirstIndexSection on Section {
  name
}

fragment helpersCheckIsAmpEnabledArticle on Article {
  entityId
  types {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
  sections {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
  disableOffPlatformContent
  sponsorType
  published
  ...helpersCheckIsPlusArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
}

fragment helpersCheckIsLiveArticle on Article {
  flattenTypeIds
  liveArticle {
    status
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsMainTopicContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  topics {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPlusArticle on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ... on Article {
    paywallTypes {
      entityUuid
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPlusPage on Page {
  urlAlias
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPostMagazineArticle on Article {
  sections {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle on Article {
  sections {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPostiesPage on Page {
  urlAlias
}

fragment helpersCheckIsStyleArticle on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  sections {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersGetArticleTypeArticle on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ... on Article {
    types {
      value {
        entityId
        id
      }
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersMassageToNewsletterItemNewsletter on Newsletter {
  entityId
  name
  alternativeName
  description {
    text
  }
  summary {
    text
  }
  homepageDescription {
    text
  }
}

fragment helpersSanitizeArticleTypeEntityIdsArticle on Article {
  types {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersSanitizeAuthorTypesArticle on Article {
  authors {
    types
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersSanitizedAuthorEntityIdsArticle on Article {
  authors {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersSectionContent on Section {
  fullSectionPath {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersStyleSectionContent on Section {
  fullSectionPath {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersUseContentSponsorContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  topics {
    entityId
    sponsor {
      ...sponsorTagSponsor
      name
      type
      id
    }
    id
  }
  ... on Article {
    sponsorType
  }
  ...helpersCheckIsMainTopicContent
}

fragment hooksArticleDateUtilsContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  createdDate
  publishedDate
  updatedDate
}

fragment hooksArticleSeoArticle on Article {
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostMagazineArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsStyleArticle
  ...hooksContentHeadlineTagContent
  ...helpersCheckIsAmpEnabledArticle
  entityId
  headline
  socialHeadline
  types {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
  authors {
    entityId
    id
  }
  images {
    generic_og: style(filter: {style: "og_image_scmp_generic"}) {
      url
    }
    styles(filter: {styles: ["og_image_posties_article", "og_postmag", "og_image_style", "og_image_scmp_analysis", "og_image_scmp_explainer", "og_image_scmp_editorial", "og_image_scmp_fact_check", "og_image_scmp_debate", "og_image_scmp_live", "og_image_scmp_obituary", "og_image_scmp_opinion", "og_image_scmp_review", "og_image_scmp_series", "og_image_scmp_generic"]}) {
      url
      style
    }
    type
  }
  urlAlias
}

fragment hooksContentHeadlineTagContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  __typename
  ... on Article {
    types {
      value {
        name
        entityId
        description {
          text
        }
        id
      }
    }
    ...helpersCheckIsStyleArticle
  }
  flag
  sections {
    value {
      name
      id
    }
  }
  ...hooksContentHelperContent
}

fragment hooksContentHelperContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...helpersSanitizeArticleTypeEntityIdsArticle
  ...helpersSanitizeAuthorTypesArticle
  ...helpersSanitizedAuthorEntityIdsArticle
  flag
}

fragment hooksPaywallPromiseContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  entityId
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
}

fragment hooksTrackPageViewArticle on Article {
  entityId
  publishedDate
  headline
  sections {
    value {
      name
      id
    }
  }
  urlAlias
  authors {
    name
    id
  }
  entityUuid
}

fragment imageContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  headline
  ...checkersCheckContentContainsStarlingImageContent
}

fragment inlineWidgetContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...contentNewsletterWidgetContent
}

fragment mainImagePrintArticleArticle on Article {
  images {
    title
    url
    isSlideshow
    size_652x446: style(filter: {style: "652x446"}) {
      url
    }
  }
}

fragment photoGalleryDialogContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  __typename
  ...contentShareWidgetContent
}

fragment photoGalleryWidgetContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...photoGalleryDialogContent
}

fragment scmpYoutubeContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  entityId
  urlAlias
  publishedDate
}

fragment sponsorTagSponsor on Sponsor {
  name
  type
  images {
    url
  }
}


sections

types

disableOffPlatformContent

sponsorType

published

headline

socialHeadline

authors

images

publishedDate

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

keywords

topics

readingTime

authorLocations

entityUuid

Minghe Hu

Richard Liu Qiangdong, the billionaire founder of Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com, has emerged as one of the biggest winners in China’s tech sector, with two successful public listings in Hong Kong and another in the pipeline, in what analysts are calling an impressive comeback after being mired in a sex scandal two and a half years ago.
The logistics unit of Liu’s business empire filed a listing application with the Hong Kong stock exchange on Tuesday, two months after JD Health raised US$3.5 billion in its maiden share offering in December and eight months after the parent company raised US$4.5 billion in a secondary listing in Hong Kong last June, in what was the city’s biggest fundraiser of that year.
The public float of JD Logistics – JD.com’s delivery team that was spun off as a separate unit in 2017 – would be a personal victory for Liu, who early on championed the need for an in-house team despite criticism from rivals that it was an “asset heavy” approach.
Liu even refers to his 250,000 JD delivery workers as “my brothers”. In a letter to these employees in 2019, when Liu announced cuts to their benefits and base salaries, he tried to soften the blow by explaining how he worked as JD delivery man in the beginning, pointing out that the first vehicle bought by the company was a rickshaw used for deliveries.
Liu has avoided the limelight since the summer of 2018 when he was briefly detained by Minneapolis police for allegedly raping a 21-year-old student enrolled in the University of Minnesota. Criminal charges against Liu were eventually dropped. Yet Liu recently demonstrated his absolute control of the business empire he built from scratch.
JD.com’s logistics unit set to sell shares through Hong Kong IPO
In two management reshuffles at the end of last year, Wang Zhenhui, the former chief executive of JD Logistics, abruptly left the company, citing “personal reasons”, and was replaced by Liu’s protégé Yu Rui.
In the same month, Liu demoted Chen Shenqiang from chief executive of fintech unit JD Digits, now JD Technology, to chief of staff at JD.com, promoting Li Yayun, the company’s Communist Party secretary and a compliance officer with no business management experience, as new head of the unit.
“When Liu laid low from Minneapolis, the so-called ‘three heads’ moved to the forefront,” a source with knowledge of the company’s internal politics told the South China Morning Post, referring to Wang, Chen and JD Retail chief Xu Lei.
“Liu has made it very clear [by replacing Wang and Chen] that he is still in charge of the whole business,” the source added.
JD.com declined interview requests for this story.
JD.com competes with Alibaba Group Holding, owner of the Post, in China’s huge e-commerce sector.
A successful listing of JD Logistics would be a further personal boost for Liu who arguably reached a low point in life when a police mugshot of him dressed in orange prison garb thrust him under the global media spotlight in 2018.
With borders closed, Chinese shoppers go online for luxury brands
Liu, who had married Chinese online celebrity Zhang Zetian in October 2015, was released within 24 hours of his arrest in Minneapolis and eventually cleared of all criminal charges. A civil case against Liu brought by the student is ongoing.
When court documents revealed details of his alleged sexual advances towards student Liu Jingyao, who is not related, the JD.com founder’s public image as a disciplined, self-made entrepreneur was shattered. The company’s stock lost half its value over the following months and Liu saw the door slam shut to many gatherings of Chinese business elites.
Liu resigned from the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Committee, a prestigious honorary position that the ruling Communist Party only reserves for a few elites. Liu has also been absent from most public events ever since, including the World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, the annual gathering of who’s who in China’s internet world, as well as the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where Liu was interviewed by Carlyle Group co-founder and TV host David Rubenstein in January 2018.
Liu skipped the ceremony for JD.com’s secondary listing in Hong Kong in last June, after he resigned as the legal person representative and general manager of the company, assigning those positions to his aide, Xu Lei. Liu still retains the titles of chairman and CEO of JD.com.
According to Chinese business registry information, Liu relinquished at least 230 titles last year from more than 200 entities, mainly subsidiaries incorporated by JD.com across China.

Analysts said that Liu has demonstrated an extraordinarily strong character to focus on his business amid the scandal and its aftermath.
Xing Kongyu, founder of Paidai.com, a website teaching users how to start e-commerce businesses, said the pressure, humiliation and pain felt by Liu would have been something “many others may not have been able to cope with”.
“All the changes at JD.com, from organisational changes to personnel reshuffles, have shown that Liu has become even stronger,” Xing said. “Liu is very clear about what his goal is in life and for JD.”
Like many Chinese tech entrepreneurs, Liu, 48, is a typical rags-to-riches story. Born to a poor family in the northern part of Jiangsu province, he has shared many stories of his hard life in the early days, including when fellow villagers gave him 76 boiled eggs and 500 yuan when he travelled to Beijing to attend university in 1992.
Analyst said Liu’s tough upbringing may have helped him retain firm control of his business empire, whose corporate name includes one character of his Chinese name, at a challenging time.
Jerric Wu, who has studied China’s Big Tech as senior project manager at Kotler Marketing Group, said Liu has retreated from his frontline roles but his control of JD.com, through equity ownership and voting rights, has not weakened.
“There’s no power struggle [within JD.com] as he is still the actual controller,” Wu said, adding that Liu is “not only a spiritual symbol but also a strong strategic commander”.
Investors have also cast their vote of confidence in Liu’s business. JD.com’s shares in the US have rebounded from a low of about US$21 at the end of 2018 to over US$100 last week. Liu remains one of the richest people in China’s technology world with a net worth of US$25 billion, according to the latest Forbes rich list data. The planned IPO of JD Logistics, after which JD.com will continue to hold over 50 per cent stake, is set to increase his wealth further.
Behind the scenes Liu has also been pushing for the initial public offering of JD Technology, which received a name change from JD Digits at the end of 2020 and was formerly known as JD Finance, but it is unclear when Chinese regulators will give the go-ahead after the scuttling of the IPO for Ant Group, the fintech unit affiliated with Alibaba.

However, JD.com appears to be in the good books of China’s central bank which approved its role as a platform for the initial trial of China’s sovereign digital currency. JD.com is also a key investor in Pudao Credit, the holder of a license to collect personal credit data, a privilege that neither Ant’s Alipay or Tencent Holdings’ WeChat Pay have been able to secure yet.
Within JD.com, Liu is becoming directly involved in areas he sees as having strategic importance. At the end of last year, the company announced that Liu would personally lead a newly created “community group buying unit” to compete in a market already facing stiff rivalry from the likes of on demand services giant Meituan.com, e-commerce platform Pinduoduo and ride-hailing firm Didi Chuxing.
JD.com customers also stayed loyal to the company, with the number of active buyers in the 12-month period to the end of September 2020 rising to 440 million from 334 million a year earlier, according to the latest data released by the company.
JD.com is expected to earn US$3.9 billion in profits in 2020, according to a consensus forecast by Bloomberg, up from US$1.8 billion in 2019 and a loss of US$368 million in 2018. Revenue is expected to hit US$114 billion in 2020, up from US$82.9 billion in 2019 and US$71 billion in 2018.
Li Chengdong, chief executive of e-commerce consultancy Dolphin Think Tank, said JD.com has not only survived the “extremely negative” impact from Liu’s scandal in Minneapolis but has thrived.
“The Minnesota incident has long been a thing of the past. It will no longer affect JD.com,” Li said. “JD’s strategic focus is on the retail supply chain now. It is much more focused on leveraging its own advantage.”
Additional reporting by Celia Chen


How JD.com founder Richard Liu rebounded from a Minneapolis sex scandal to achieve a hat-trick of IPOs in Hong Kong

JD.com founder Richard Liu attends a business forum in Hong Kong in this file photo dated June 9, 2017. Photo: Reuters

(200618) -- HONG KONG, June 18, 2020 (Xinhua) -- A screen showing the listing of JD.com in Hong Kong is seen outside the trading hall of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) in south China's Hong Kong, June 18, 2020. JD.com started trading on the Hong Kong market Thursday as the third U.S.-listed Chinese mainland company that completed a secondary listing in Hong Kong. TO GO WITH "JD.com starts trading in Hong Kong" (Xinhua/Wang Shen)

File photo taken June 2, 2020, shows the headquarters of Chinese e-commerce company JD.com, Inc. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Liu has avoided the limelight since 2018 when he was briefly detained by Minneapolis police for allegedly raping a 21-year-old student. He was cleared of all criminal charges
The recent management reshuffles at JD.com demonstrate that Liu retains absolute control of the business empire he built from scratch



JD.com founder Richard Liu looks set to pull off a hat-trick of three successful public listings in what analysts are calling an impressive comeback after he was mired in a sex scandal two and a half years ago.


JD.com

China technology