Alibaba, JD.com, Pinduoduo help revive sales of farm goods from Hubei after coronavirus lockdown
- China’s three biggest e-commerce companies have launched programmes to revitalise Hubei’s agriculture sector
- These initiatives back Beijing’s effort to revive economic activity in the landlocked province and across the nation
China’s biggest e-commerce services providers, Alibaba Group Holding, JD.com and Pinduoduo, are pushing separate initiatives to help revive sales of farm goods from Hubei, as the province hardest hit by the coronavirus crisis emerges from its months-long lockdown.
“Hubei has made great sacrifices and contributions to the fight against the epidemic nationwide,” said Hou Yi, a vice-president at Alibaba and chief executive of its supermarket chain Freshippo, in a statement on Wednesday. “We will work ... for the recovery of Hubei's agricultural industry.”
Alibaba, the parent company of the South China Morning Post, introduced on Tuesday a special section for the landlocked province in central China in the “Help Farmers” channel on Taobao Marketplace. Alibaba aims to sell 1.2 million tonnes of Hubei agricultural products this year through the company’s various online platforms.
JD.com and Pinduoduo have also launched their own programmes to support Hubei, which counts cotton, rice, wheat and tea among its major agricultural products.
On Wednesday, Pinduoduo said it was cooperating with local authorities in Hubei by offering various subsidies and marketing support.
JD.com on the same day unveiled its “Buy Hubei Goods” event and set up a special page on its app for nearly 90,000 items of fresh produce from Hubei carried by about 1,700 different brands. JD.com said it will launch 10 other initiatives, including merchant enrolment and logistics support, to aid Hubei’s agricultural industry.