Amazon.com, the world's largest online retailer, has announced it will close its Chinese domestic marketplace business by July 18, 2019.
In a major e-commerce setback, shoppers in mainland China will no longer be able to buy goods from third-party merchants in China via Amazon, but will continue to be able to make overseas purchases via Amazon’s global store.
Analysts say the closure underscores how fierce competition by China’s home-grown e-commerce rivals have made it difficult for Amazon to gain foothold. In 2018, the company had less than one per cent of the Chinese market share, while Alibaba’s Tmall and JD.com together held over 80 per cent. Alibaba is the owner of the South China Morning Post.
Amazon is still expanding significantly in other countries, including India, the world’s second most populous country.
