Walmart has sold all its shares in Chinese e-commerce platform JD.com. The US hypermarket giant is looking to conquer the Chinese market on its own.
Logistics champion
Walmart was the largest shareholder of Chinese e-commerce company JD.com for eight years. During that time, the US retail giant had built up a 5.19% stake in the Chinese rival to Amazon and Alibaba.
Not only did Walmart want to gain a foothold in the fast-growing Asian online market in doing so, it also wanted to keep rival Amazon at bay. Moreover, JD.com is known for its advanced logistics capabilities, courtesy of AI and automated warehouses: knowledge that the Americans could also benefit from.
Physical expansion
Yet the hypermarket giant is now taking a different tack: all shares have been sold for 3.74 billion dollars, Reuters reports. With that money, Walmart intends to focus on its own operations in China. The plan is to open twice as many warehouses in China for Sam’s Club and retain only a commercial partnership with JD.com.
The sale coincides with a dip in the Chinese consumer market. Demand and spending are falling after years of spectacular growth, while rivals Alibaba and Temu owner Pinduoduo have started a fierce price war that is putting further pressure on revenues and margins. Walmart nevertheless recorded 17.7% sales growth in China in the second quarter.
