Google has agreed a strategic partnership with Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com, under which it will acquire $550m of JD.com's shares. The deal is expected to close in the second half of this year, and would see Google's search engine become one of China's most popular online shopping destinations. Initially the latter's products will be sold on the Google Shopping platform around the world, and the two companies plan further moves in online retailing in Europe, the US and southeast Asia. The goal here is to merge JD.com’s experience and technology in supply chain and logistics — in China, it has opened warehouses that use robots rather than workers — with Google’s customer reach, data and marketing to produce new kinds of online retail. The partnership is the latest foray into the Chinese market for Google, which already has a relationship with Tencent, JD.com's main investor.
Google has agreed a strategic partnership with Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com, under which it will acquire $550m of JD.com's shares. The deal is expected to close in the second half of this year, and would see Google's search engine become one of China's most popular online shopping destinations. Initially the latter's products will be sold on the Google Shopping platform around the world, and the two companies plan further moves in online retailing in Europe, the US and southeast Asia. The partnership is the latest foray into the Chinese market for Google, which already has a relationship with Tencent, JD.com's main investor.