Walmart has sold its entire stake in Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com.
The move, announced in a securities filing on Tuesday (August 20), comes as Walmart increases its own focus on the Chinese retail sector.
According to JD.com’s 2023 annual report, Walmart owned a nearly 10% stake in the company at the end of last year.
The giant retailer first bought shares in JD in 2016 in exchange for the sale of its e-commerce business Yihaodian.
“Walmart invested nearly 10 years ago when JD.com and the e-commerce market were growing very fast,” Li Chengdong, head of Chinese tech think tank Haitun, told the Financial Times (FT). “The investment allowed them to learn from JD. Now they are doing well on their own in China, so the strategic value of the investment has been exhausted.”
The FT report notes that Walmart’s increased focus on China also includes Sam’s Club stores, which are becoming increasingly popular with the country’s price-conscious consumers.
According to the FT, Walmart plans to continue its collaboration with JD.com. The sale will allow it to “better focus on its strong development in China, including operations of Walmart Supercenter and Sam’s Club, and allocate assets to other priorities.”
The retailer added that it had “achieved success by timely adjusting its asset portfolio in various markets around the world.”
The news comes less than a week after Walmart reported sales that showed slow but steady growth and a “reasonably cautious” outlook for consumer spending for the second half of 2024.
“So far, we’re not seeing a weaker consumer overall,” CEO Doug McMillon told the conference call audience. “Our customers and members around the world continue to want four things. They want value, they want a wide range of items and services. They want a convenient and enjoyable shopping experience, and they want to do business with a company they trust.”
And in other related news, Walmart recently partnered with digital payments platform WorldFirst to make it easier for China-based e-commerce sellers to collect payments through Walmart Marketplace.
The companies say this new digital payment collection service provides online sellers with additional security and compliance by depositing funds directly into a merchant’s World account with no service fees.
