JD Group, JD Finance, Thailand's leading retailer Central Group, and Provident Capital together announced that they would set up two joint ventures in Thailand to provide e-commerce service and fintech services with total investments of USD500 million.

According to the agreement, Central Group will provide half of the funds; while JD Group, JD Finance, and JD's Indonesian e-commerce business strategic cooperating partner Provident Capital will provide the other half.

JD will provide extensive professional skill support to the e-commerce joint venture, covering technology, e-commerce, and logistics. JD Finance will offer related fintech experience and technologies such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and other industry-leading technologies.

At the same time, Central Group will use its retail resource advantages, including a physical store network, brand relationships and vendor resources, and its popular membership program "The 1 Card", to contribute for the development of the two joint ventures. In addition, Central Group will open several flagship stores on the platform of the e-commerce joint venture to introduce its department store, major retail chain stores, and its owned or operated brands.

Liu Qiangdong, chairman and chief executive officer of JD Group, said that Thailand has a large population and developed infrastructure, including a strong national logistics network, which represents huge potential for the development of e-commerce and fintech. By cooperating with a strong retail group like Central Group, JD will gain a huge competitive advantage in its expansion in Southeast Asia.

Tos Chirathivat, chief executive officer of Central Group, said that JD Group achieved huge successes in the Chinese e-commerce market and it is the best choice for an e-commerce partner. With the growing of mobile Internet users and improving of customer spending power, Thailand's e-commerce will soon have an explosive development. By cooperating with JD, Central Group will seize this opportunity to become a leading e-commerce provider in Thailand.