China’s e-commerce giant JD.com said on Friday it will launch a 200 billion yuan ($27.35 billion) fund to help the country’s exporters sell their products domestically over the next year, as a U.S.-China trade war intensifies.
Beijing increased its tariffs on U.S. imports on Friday to 125%, hitting back against U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to hike duties on Chinese goods to 145%.
JD.com said in a statement that it would send its employees to Chinese companies involved in foreign trade, directly purchase their “high-quality products” and set up a special area on its e-commerce platform to sell these products and direct traffic and marketing support to this area.
Separately on Friday, supermarket chain Freshippo, owned by JD.com rival Alibaba and known as Hema in Chinese, said it had opened a fast-track path for export companies to explore the domestic market.
The support programmes for Chinese exporters could help them re-coup some of their losses stemming from reduced sales overseas by quickly starting or increasing domestic sales, although they will face intense competition in a slowing economy.
Like JD.com, Freshippo will set up a special zone on its platform where only products from these companies will be sold. It said it will also make it easier for exporters to get on its platform by simplifying registration procedures and would allow these exporters to make use of the company’s warehouse network.
Reuters
