China’s JD.com to Open Australian Office This Month
Chinese ecommerce giant JD.com will open
its first Australian office in Melbourne this month as part of its global expansion plan, following a similar move made last year by Chinese
rival Alibaba.
Whilst JD.com’s initial investment in Melbourne will start off small with only a handful of staff, the improvement of Chinese goods in terms of global quality and brand recognition, along with strong support from the local Victorian government is prompting forecasts of an extremely accelerated expansion into the Australian market.
JD.com also announced plans to invest and
develop partnership deals with some of the biggest distribution networks in
Australia. The arrival of JD.com however has also undoubtedly fuelled concern
by local retailers regarding competition, though both JD.com and Alibaba have
held off on targeting Australian consumers in the short term.
