Which American Company Just Bet Big On China?

Wal-Mart nearly doubled its investment in Chinese e-commerce platform JD.com and its shareholding scale increased from 5.9% to 10.8%.

Meanwhile, Wal-Mart gained an observer role for board of directors meeting of JD.com, which plays second-fiddle to behemoth Alibaba in China.

The latest files submitted by Wal-Mart to the regulatory authorities revealed the information, which reflects the importance of the alliance with JD for Wal-Mart's long-term development in China.

In June 2016, this U.S.-headquartered retail giant sold its Chinese e-commerce business Yhd to JD. As a part of this deal, Wal-Mart held about 5.9% shares of JD. Basing on this agreement, Wal-Mart also has the rights to increase shareholding of JD and gain the observer role. Wal-Mart started investment in Yhd in May 2011 and the company gained a 17.7% stake with the initial investment. In July 2015, Wal-Mart acquired Yhd entirely. However, the international retailer decided to give up Yhd in June 2016; instead, it started in-depth cooperation with JD.

JD's only major strategic partner is Tencent, which has one position in the board of directors of JD.