JD.com plans US$1.5 billion offensive against Pinduoduo in budget segment as e-commerce competition heats up in China

  • Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com is hammering out details of a multibillion-yuan subsidy campaign to be launched next month, sources said
  • The move marks JD’s first major business initiative by founder Richard Liu since taking back the reins of his empire after settling a rape case in the US

Ben Jiangin Beijing
A display for Chinese online retailer JD.com at the China International Fair for Trade in Services in Beijing in September 2022. Photo: AP Photo
Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com is launching a 10 billion yuan (US$1.5 billion) subsidy campaign in early March to compete against rival PDD Holdings, whose budget shopping app Pinduoduo has been on a meteoric rise, according to two people with knowledge of the matter, as China’s e-commerce market slows down.

The subsidies will cover both JD.com’s self-operated online shops, and storefronts set up by third parties on its platform. The company is still in the process of hammering out the details and readying its system before the campaign begins next month, one of the sources said.

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