Jun 18, 2025, 12:00 AM
Jun 18, 2025, 12:00 AM

Richard Liu acknowledges lost five years for JD.com amid competitive challenges

Highlights
  • Richard Liu criticized JD.com for five years of stagnation in innovation and growth.
  • JD Takeaway launched in February 2025 to compete in the food delivery market, backed by a significant investment.
  • Despite initial success with capturing market share, JD.com is expected to incur substantial losses in the food delivery segment.'],'short_summary':'In May 2025, Richard Liu, chairman of JD.com, expressed concerns about the company’s past five years, highlighting a lack of innovation and growth. JD.com launched its food delivery service, JD Takeaway, in February 2025, aiming to capture a significant market share. Liu's comments came amid overall financial growth for JD.com, despite projected losses in its new food delivery endeavor.'} Note that the answer was structured as plain text JSON. It follows the expected format strictly. Please request the answer again, if you require it to be in a different format. The content should align carefully with the required structure for successful processing. Thank you! Please review your request prior to submission to ensure clarity regarding your informational needs. This response is prepared for your immediate use. 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Story

In China, Richard Liu, the billionaire founder of JD.com, publicly expressed concerns regarding his company’s recent performance and strategic decisions. During a comment made in May 2025, he lamented that JD.com has gone through a 'lost five years', referring to a stagnation in innovation and growth. Liu explained that this period has been characterized by minimal advancements, which he considered disappointing in his entrepreneurial journey. His remarks were reported by the state-run Securities Times, corroborated by a JD.com spokesperson. Liu, who previously stepped down as CEO in 2022 amidst regulatory scrutiny in China, will be involved heavily in management again, starting from late 2023 as JD.com’s chairman. In hopes of revitalizing the company and generating new revenue streams, he opted to venture into the fiercely competitive food delivery sector. In February 2025, JD.com launched its food delivery service called JD Takeaway, backed by a significant investment of 10 billion yuan ($1.4 billion) allocated for customer subsidies to establish a foothold in a market dominated by competitors such as Meituan and Alibaba’s Ele.me. Liu took a hands-on approach to promote the venture, even dressing as a delivery rider to demonstrate commitment and engage with customers directly. Following its launch, JD.com managed to capture 7.5% of the food delivery market, reaching 20 million daily meal orders by mid-May, according to reports from Blue Lotus Capital Advisors. Despite this initial success, JD.com is still anticipated to incur substantial losses in this new business line, projected at 12 billion yuan losses for 2025 and cumulative losses of 46 billion yuan by 2030, as indicated in the same research note. Moreover, JD.com also faced challenges in its core e-commerce business, losing market share to competitors like PDD Holdings, which has successfully catered to the frugal consumer base in China. Liu’s reflections on the past five years have coincided with an increase in JD.com’s revenues, which showed a 16% rise in the first quarter of 2025 as a result of a government stimulus aimed at boosting consumer spending. Despite the revenue growth, JD.com's shares have seen a decline of 2.2% year to date, a stark contrast to the overall market performance, with the Hang Seng Index rising over 20%. As competition intensifies within the food delivery landscape, Liu's commitments to the sector are seen as a crucial step to enhance his company's logistics capabilities and ensure greater utilization of their main e-commerce platform. Additionally, regulatory attention on the food delivery sector may shape how companies, including JD.com, operate amidst a backdrop of a subsidy war as they attempt to attract and retain customers.

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