JD.com plans to invest 22 billion CNY (around 3.12 billion USD) in housing for couriers.
The backdrop is the brutal battle over “instant retail”: one-hour delivery, billions in discounts, and growing pressure on drivers.
Details
🚲 Housing instead of just delivering: JD.com says it has already provided 28,000 housing units for frontline workers and plans to offer 150,000 units over the next five years.
🏢 Meituan sets the pace: Rival Meituan previously announced it would invest 10 billion CNY over five years into a better welfare system for riders, including subsidized “rider apartments” in multiple cities.
🛵 12 million on the road: The price war hits a massive workforce. An estimated 12 million couriers in China keep the daily instant-delivery machine running.
🏛️ Regulators tap the brakes: Authorities are pushing platforms toward “fair” and “rational” competition, also with an eye on working conditions.
Sell or Hold?
In the stock market, $JD ( â–Ľ 0.74% ) remains a problem child.
- The share price is down around 13% since the start of the year, even though revenue and profits are growing.
The reason for investor skepticism: cutthroat competition in delivery and rising costs are squeezing margins. For investors, JD is a classic China trade: attractively valued, operationally solid, but not for the faint-hearted.
Background
China’s platforms have been locked for months in a race over “instant retail,” meaning ultra-fast delivery of everyday goods and electronics. This fuels aggressive pricing campaigns and increases pressure on drivers and partners.
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