Diplomats tour e-commerce HQ for further cooperation

Foreign diplomats joined hands with e-commerce company JD in support of Beijing’s campaign to build itself into an international consumption center.

Ambassadors and other embassy officials from 15 countries said they expect further cooperation with JD. They visited its headquarters in Beijing on June 18, which marks an annual online shopping festival initiated by the company.

During the event, JD cited Theland, a New Zealand dairy company, as an example to illustrate its innovative development in international cooperation. Theland has nearly 30 pastures in New Zealand. JD offers milk produced on one of them to its customers.

Ling Chenkai, vice-president at JD, said: “More and more Chinese consumers are looking for quality and diversified products and I hope JD can become a bridge that promotes excellent products from different countries to Chinese customers.”

The company’s staff members showcased the food products purchased from the 15 countries via JD’s online platform. These include German beer, black tea from Britain and Sri Lanka, and coffee from Malaysia.

Wu Hongwei, a food supply chain expert from JD, cooked a special lunch for the guests, which used ingredients sourced from the company’s online platform. It included Thailand’s black tiger shrimp, New Zealand mutton, salmon from Chile and grapes from Peru.

Arthayudh Srisamoot, ambassador of Thailand to China, said the midyear shopping festival is a day that customers look forward to. JD offers numerous products from around the world and it provides a good opportunity for those who had never used e-commerce to try new things, he added.

Trade with Thailand is a highlight of JD’s operations. The company and a large Thai retailer have set up a joint venture in the country. Three scheduled flights a week between Shenzhen and Bangkok are responsible for importing JD’s orders.

Luis Schmidt Montes, Chile’s ambassador to China, flew back to Beijing from Shanghai on June 18 to join the tour. He attended the opening ceremony of the Chilean sales channel on the JD shopping portal last year.

Chile sells wine and fruit, as well as pork, mutton and other products via JD, promoting its quality food in China, he said. He added that he believes there will be more cooperation opportunities at JD.

The Chilean ambassador has made great efforts to promote his country’s cherries. Currently, 93 percent of Chile’s cherries are exported to China and JD is the most important sales platform for that, he said.

Xu Hejian, deputy head of Beijing’s publicity department, said that with the ambition of building an international consumption center that leads the country, Beijing is open to the world and welcomes increased communication and expanded trade.

Beijing, as the nation’s capital, has a huge consumer market. It needs to tap into more shopping potential, gather more high-end consumption resources and create a world-class consumption environment, Xu said.