Consumer Economy

Chairman Zhang Jindong said on the event that this is a key move in 2019 for the company to lay out its online-and-offline presence.

A Forrester report estimates that Southeast Asia’s e-commerce market will grow to $53b in five years.

The company’s growth has been costly, but more aggressive expansions are in the works.

After the deal, the Beijing-based startup will be valued at US$8.5 billion, multiple times higher than its rival Uxin, which is listed on NASDAQ and had a market capitalization of about US$1 billion a

Fosun and Ant Financial’s parent, Alibaba, have also invested in Babytree Group, China’s leading online parenting firm.

The firm is also planning to launch in one more city outside of Singapore in the second half of the year

The line between offline channels and e-tailers are getting blurred.

Shenzhen-based Hive Box said that a total of 2.5 billion parcels were picked up via its smart lockers located within communities in 100+ cities around China last year. That accounts for about 5 percen