Google invests $550 million in China’s e-commerce giant JD.com

Beijing. June 19. Silkroadnews - Google will invest $550 million in the Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com as a part of the U.S. internet giant’s efforts to expand its presence in fast-growing Asian markets and battles with such competitors as Amazon.com, Reuters reports.
Both companies called the planned investments to be a part of a broader partnership that would include the promotion of sales of JD.com products on Google. This could help JD.com to go beyond the markets of China and Southeast Asia and establish a significant presence in the markets of the U.S. and Europe.
According to the company officials, at first the agreement did not imply any major new initiatives by Google in China, where the company’s main services are blocked due to the refusal to censor search results in line with the local laws, the report reads.
Among investors of JD.com there are the Chinese company Tencent Holdings Ltd, one of the leaders of electronic commerce Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and Walmart Inc.
Google is stepping up its investment in Asia, where the rapidly growing middle class and lack of infrastructure in retail, finance and other areas have made the market a battleground for American and Chinese Internet giants.
Reportedly, in the course of the deal Google will receive 27.1 million new issued JD.com Class A ordinary shares, i.e. less than a 1% stake in JD.
“This partnership with Google opens up a broad range of possibilities to offer a superior retail experience to consumers throughout the world,” the agency quoted saying by Jianwen Liao, chief strategy officer of JD.com.
Officials of the company said the transaction will help to unify the market coverage and strong analytics of Google with JD.com’s expertise in the field of logistics and material and technical resources management.