Google is buying a $550 million stake in Chinese e-commerce firm JD.com as part of a strategic partnership between the two companies.

The two tech firms announced Monday that they will join forces to sell goods online across Southeast Asia, the United States and Europe, competing with rivals like Amazon (AMZN) and Alibaba (BABA).

Under the deal, JD said it "plans to make a selection of high-quality products available for sale through Google Shopping in multiple regions."

The two companies also hope to combine Google's (GOOGL) technology with JD.com's (JD) expertise in managing supply chains for products.

JD, China's second largest e-commerce retailer after Alibaba, has had its eye on Western markets.

In February, CEO Richard Liu told The Financial Times that the Chinese company plans to challenge Amazon in Europe as early as 2019.

"This partnership with Google opens up a broad range of possibilities to offer a superior retail experience to consumers throughout the world," JD's chief strategy officer, Jianwen Liao, said in a statement Monday.

Related: It's not just Amazon: Chinese tech giants are selling groceries too

Like Alibaba, JD has already sought to expand its reach across Southeast Asia.

Google has struck other partnerships in an effort to compete with Amazon in e-commerce. Last year, it teamed up with Walmart to enable people to order the retail giant's products through Google Assistant.

Unlike Amazon, Google isn't able to offer its main services in China.

The company's most popular products -- its search engine, maps, Gmail and YouTube -- remain banned in the country. The announcement with JD on Monday made no mention of the companies partnering on initiatives inside China.

Google has recently been ramping up its investments in China and elsewhere in Asia. Earlier this year, it led a $120 million investment into Chinese sports streaming company Chushou and invested an undisclosed amount of money in Indonesian ride-hailing company Go Jek.</s>Google has announced plans to invest $550 million in JD.com, the e-commerce giant based in China. The investment is part of a partnership between the two companies including the promotion of JD.com products on Google’s shopping site.</s>SINGAPORE - Google will invest $550 million in Chinese e-commerce powerhouse JD.com, part of the US internet giant's efforts to expand its presence in fast-growing Asian markets and battle rivals including Amazon.com.

The two companies described the investment as one piece of a broader partnership that will include the promotion of JD.com products on Google's shopping service. This could help JD.com expand beyond its base in China and Southeast Asia and establish a meaningful presence in US and European markets.

Company officials said the agreement initially would not involve any major new Google initiatives in China, where the company's main services are blocked over its refusal to censor search results in line with local laws.

JD.com's investors include Chinese social media powerhouse Ten cent Holdings Ltd, the arch-rival of Chinese e-commerce leader Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, and Walmart Inc. It also has a partnership with French retail giant Carrefour SA.

Google is stepping up its investments across Asia, where a rapidly growing middle class and a lack of infrastructure in retail, finance and other areas have made it a battleground for US and Chinese internet giants. Google recently took a stake in Indonesian ride-hailing firm Go-Jek, and sources have told Reuters that it may also invest in Indian e-commerce upstart Flipkart.

Google declined to comment on the rumored Flipkart deal. The JD.com investment is being made by the operating unit of Google rather than one of parent company Alphabet's investment vehicles.

Google will get 27.1 million newly issued JD.com Class A ordinary shares as part of the deal. This will give them less than a 1 per cent stake in JD, a spokesman for JD said.

For JD.com, the Google deal shows its determination to build a set of global alliances as it seeks to counter Alibaba, which has been more focused on forging domestic retail tie-ups. Japan's Softbank Group Corp, which is making big internet investments around the globe, is a major investor in Alibaba.

"This partnership with Google opens up a broad range of possibilities to offer a superior retail experience to consumers throughout the world," said Jianwen Liao, JD.com's chief strategy officer, in a statement.

Company officials said the deal would marry Google's market reach and strength in analytics with JD.com's expertise in logistics and inventory management.</s>REUTERS: Google will invest US$550 million in Chinese e-commerce powerhouse JD.com, part of the U.S. internet giant's efforts to expand its presence in fast-growing Asian markets and battle rivals including Amazon.com.

The two companies described the investment announced on Monday as one piece of a broader partnership that will include the promotion of JD.com products on Google's shopping service. This could help JD.com expand beyond its base in China and Southeast Asia and establish a meaningful presence in U.S. and European markets.

JD.com's U.S.-listed shares rose 1.2 percent to US$44.10 on the Nasdaq on Monday.

Company officials said the agreement initially would not involve any major new Google initiatives in China, where the company's main services are blocked over its refusal to censor search results in line with local laws.

JD.com's investors include Chinese social media powerhouse Tencent Holdings Ltd, the arch-rival of Chinese e-commerce leader Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, and Walmart Inc.

The partnership not only lets Google bolster its retail ambitions in China but also allows it to further tighten its relationship with Walmart. Together, the two companies could challenge the dominance of Amazon and Alibaba in key markets around the world, analysts said.

In the past year, Google has been partnered with Walmart on multiple fronts. In August 2017, the two companies joined forces to offer hundreds of thousands of Walmart items on Google's voice-controlled Google Assistant platform to counter the dominance of Amazon in the voice shopping market. (https://goo.gl/fsZk2g)

In March, Reuters reported a new program where Google was teaming up with retailers like Walmart, allowing them to list their products on Google Search, as well as on the Google Express shopping service to better compete with Amazon.

Google is also reportedly pursuing picking up a stake in India's Flipkart, where Walmart picked up a 77 percent stake for US$16 billion.

Google declined to comment on the rumored Flipkart deal.

Google is stepping up its investments across Asia, where a rapidly growing middle class and a lack of infrastructure in retail, finance and other areas have made it a battleground for U.S. and Chinese internet heavyweights. Google recently took a stake in Indonesian ride-hailing firm Go-Jek.

The JD.com investment is being made by the operating unit of Google rather than one of parent company Alphabet's investment vehicles.

Google will get 27.1 million newly issued JD.com Class A ordinary shares as part of the deal. This will give them less than a 1 percent stake in JD, a spokesman for JD said.

For JD.com, the Google deal shows its determination to build a set of global alliances as it seeks to counter Alibaba, which has been more focused on forging domestic retail tie-ups. Japan's SoftBank Group Corp, which is making big internet investments around the globe, is a major investor in Alibaba.

Morningstar analyst Chelsey Tam said the investment will help JD.com expand into developed markets such as the United States and Europe, where it has lesser exposure compared to Google.

"This partnership with Google opens up a broad range of possibilities to offer a superior retail experience to consumers throughout the world," said Jianwen Liao, JD.com's chief strategy officer, in a statement.

Company officials said the deal would marry Google's market reach and strength in analytics with JD.com's expertise in logistics and inventory management.

The investment may give Google access to more consumer data, which can be used to boost usage of Google Shopping, said Morningstar analyst Ali Mogharabi.</s>Google says it will invest $550 million in Alibaba's main rival JD.com as the U.S. tech giant seeks to expand in fast-growing Asian e-commerce markets

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Google says it will invest $550 million in Alibaba’s main rival JD.com as the U.S. tech giant seeks to expand in fast-growing Asian e-commerce markets.

Under the partnership announced Monday, JD.com products will appear on Google’s shopping service while Google can apply the Chinese e-commerce company’s supply chain and logistics expertise to its technology.

Google said through the partnership, the company will explore new solutions to improve shopping experiences of consumers around the world.

It was not clear if the partnership was the American company’s latest attempt to make a foray into China, where its major services including email and search are blocked.

JD.com is China’s second-largest e-commerce company after Alibaba. It counts Tencent Holdings, the developer of WeChat messenger app and a key rival of Alibaba, as its investors.</s>Google is set to invest $550 million in Chinese e-commerce firm JD.com as part of a new strategic partnership between the two tech giants, the Chinese company said in a statement Monday.

Google will receive just over 27 million newly issued JD.com Class A ordinary shares at an issue price of $20.29 per share.</s>(Reuters) - Google will invest $550 million in Chinese e-commerce powerhouse JD.com, part of the U.S. internet giant's efforts to expand its presence in fast-growing Asian markets and battle rivals including Amazon.com.

The two companies described the investment announced on Monday as one piece of a broader partnership that will include the promotion of JD.com products on Google's shopping service. This could help JD.com expand beyond its base in China and Southeast Asia and establish a meaningful presence in U.S. and European markets.

JD.com's U.S.-listed shares rose 2.5 percent to $44.68 in morning trading on the Nasdaq.

Company officials said the agreement initially would not involve any major new Google initiatives in China, where the company's main services are blocked over its refusal to censor search results in line with local laws.

JD.com's investors include Chinese social media powerhouse Tencent Holdings Ltd, the arch-rival of Chinese e-commerce leader Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, and Walmart Inc.

"Given Walmart also has a close relationship with JD, I see (the investment) as further tightening of the Google/Walmart alliance, which seems focused on building a third force in ecommerce beyond Amazon and Alibaba," said Atlantic Equities analyst James Cordwell.

Google is stepping up its investments across Asia, where a rapidly growing middle class and a lack of infrastructure in retail, finance and other areas have made it a battleground for U.S. and Chinese internet giants. Google recently took a stake in Indonesian ride-hailing firm Go-Jek, and sources have told Reuters that it may also invest in Indian e-commerce upstart Flipkart.

Google declined to comment on the rumored Flipkart deal. The JD.com investment is being made by the operating unit of Google rather than one of parent company Alphabet's investment vehicles.

Google will get 27.1 million newly issued JD.com Class A ordinary shares as part of the deal. This will give them less than a 1 percent stake in JD, a spokesman for JD said.

For JD.com, the Google deal shows its determination to build a set of global alliances as it seeks to counter Alibaba, which has been more focused on forging domestic retail tie-ups. Japan's SoftBank Group Corp, which is making big internet investments around the globe, is a major investor in Alibaba.

"This partnership with Google opens up a broad range of possibilities to offer a superior retail experience to consumers throughout the world," said Jianwen Liao, JD.com's chief strategy officer, in a statement.

Company officials said the deal would marry Google's market reach and strength in analytics with JD.com's expertise in logistics and inventory management.

The investment may give Google access to more consumer data, which can be used to boost usage of Google Shopping, said Morningstar analyst Ali Mogharabi.</s>Google will invest more than half a billion dollars in China’s second-largest e-commerce company JD.com as part of a move to expand retail services around the world, the companies said Monday.

The announcement comes as US giant is pushing Google Shopping, a platform allowing customers to compare prices between different sellers, which poses a challenge to Amazon.

The firms will marry JD’s supply chain and logistics experience with Google technology to create “next generation” personalised retail in regions including Southeast Asia, the US and Europe, the joint statement said.

“This partnership with Google opens up a broad range of possibilities to offer a superior retail experience to consumers throughout the world,” JD.com’s chief strategy officer Jianwen Liao said.

Google will put $550 million in cash into JD.com and in return, the California-based company will receive 27.1 million newly issued JD.com Class A ordinary shares.

The shares are equivalent to a nearly one percent stake in the company, according to a JD.com spokesman.

Google chief business officer Philipp Schindler said the move will give customers “the power to shop wherever and however they want.”

However, the partnership is unlikely to affect Google’s status in mainland China, where Gmail, Google Search and Google Maps are all blocked in China.

Chinese internet users face fines or even jail for unfavourable social media posts. Authorities have further tightened internet controls in recent months, shutting down celebrity gossip blogs and probing platforms for “obscenity”.

In China, JD.com competes aggressively with e-commerce leader Alibaba, which runs the popular Taobao and Tmall shopping platforms.</s>SEOUL, Korea, Republic Of — Google says it will invest $550 million in Alibaba’s main rival JD.com as the U.S. tech giant seeks to expand in fast-growing Asian e-commerce markets.

Under the partnership announced Monday, JD.com products will appear on Google’s shopping service while Google can apply the Chinese e-commerce company’s supply chain and logistics expertise to its technology.

Google said through the partnership, the company will explore new solutions to improve shopping experiences of consumers around the world.

It was not clear if the partnership was the American company’s latest attempt to make a foray into China, where its major services including email and search are blocked.

JD.com is China’s second-largest e-commerce company after Alibaba. It counts Tencent Holdings, the developer of WeChat messenger app and a key rival of Alibaba, as its investors.</s>SEOUL, Korea, Republic Of — Google said Monday that it will invest $550 million in Alibaba’s main rival JD.com as the U.S. tech giant seeks to expand in fast-growing Asian e-commerce markets.

Under the partnership, JD.com products will appear on Google’s shopping service, giving JD.com access to consumers outside Asia, while Google can apply the Chinese e-commerce company’s supply chain and logistics expertise to its technology.

Google said that through the partnership, the company will explore new solutions to improve shopping experiences of consumers around the world.

It was not clear if the partnership was the American company’s latest attempt to make a foray into China, where its major services, including email and its search engine, are blocked.

The two companies, however, will jointly develop retail solutions in Southeast Asia, the latest battlefield among global online commerce giants such as Alibaba, JD.com and Amazon. Southeast Asian consumers are forecast to spend $88.1 billion online by 2025, according to Google.

JD.com is China’s second-largest e-commerce company after Alibaba. It counts Tencent Holdings, the developer of the WeChat messenger app and a key rival of Alibaba, as its investors.

Google will receive 27.1 million newly issued JD.com Class A ordinary shares as part of the deal.
Google announces that it will invest US$550 million in the Chinese e-commerce company JD.com.