Liu Qiangdong Leads JD Logistics Arm to IPO in Hong Kong

BEIJING and HONG KONG, China. June 7, 2021. Liu Qiangdong has seen exponential growth in the company he created, JD.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: JD and HKEX: 9618). Often described as the Amazon of China, JD.com created it's own logistics network in 2007. With heavy investments in both infrastructure and technology, JD Logistics has evolved into the largest revenue creator of an integrated supply chain and logistics provider in China as of 2020. Now, under Liu Qiangdong it has grown into a company, going public in May of 2021 with the ticker 2618.HK.

Ru Yui, CEO of JD Logistics presided over the ceremony held in honor of the public offering both in Beijing and virtually. Nine representatives from the company stood on a stage in Beijing to virtually ring the opening gong of the market. This included JD Logistics’ six-axis robot, an invention that allows for extensive warehouse automation.

Ru Yui spoke with the press following the ceremony. He talked of the ten years of building JD Logistics which preceded the opening of the services to the rest of the world in 2017. The Logistics branch of JD was originally created when JD was unable to find an outside logistics provider that could meet its needs. Within 3 years they were offering 3-day shipping within China. After expanding to serving other businesses in 2017, JD was able to engage in a new period of integrated supply chain development, which led to the company providing logistics solutions and services to over 190,000 businesses around the world. Currently, JD Logistics external client revenue makes up 46.6% of their total revenue.

JD Logistics is the third JD company to be listed on HKEx. The first was JD.com (9618.HK), followed by JDHealth (6618.HK). The company began marketing the IPO at a rate of HK$39.36 to HK$43.36 per share, a strategy that could have seen them raise as much as HK$26.4 billion (US$3.4 billion). The company planned to sell 10% of its share capital or 609.2 million shares. As of the end of May, the company had achieved a market capitalization of around 33 billion dollars. The company's prospectus states that the plan is to use the influx of capital to build new technologies and update existing infrastructure, as well as expansion.

One industry which will be heavily impacted by the JD Logistics IPO is the fashion industry. As e-commerce competition within China increases, the public offering of JD Logistics is expected to attract more luxury brands. In more recent years, the company has revolutionized logistics options for their enterprise customers, such as Skechers shoes. As consumers expect high quality delivery options, especially for high-end goods, the need for first-class shipping and logistics grows. JD Logistics is planning for companies' greater reliance on third-party options for logistics solutions, and by offering them that reliable solution, they plan to expand.

About JD.com, Inc. and JD Logistics

JD.com (NASDAQ: JD and HKEx: 9618) works to offer customers the best online experience while shopping. As both the largest retailer and e-commerce company in China in terms of revenue, JD has created a shopping experience of the highest caliber on several mediums including website, mobile app and WeChat. A member of both the NASDAQ100 and a Fortune Global 500 company, JD operates the largest fulfillment infrastructure of any e-commerce company in China. As of March of 2021, the JD Logistics arm (now HKEx: 2618) of the company operated over 1,000 warehouses, taking up a combined 226 million square feet of floor space. The company also manages cloud warehouses under their JD Logistics Open Warehouse Platform.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or the management of EconoTimes