Inside JD.com, the giant Chinese firm that could eat Amazon alive

As JD.com pushes into Western markets, with drones, robots and luxury brands, it's time for Amazon to sit up and pay attention.

JD, short for Jingdong, was founded by Richard Liu in 1998 and started as a small brick-and-mortar store in Beijing. Then in 2004, Liu moved it online and JD.com was born. The firm is now worth more than $55 billion.

The drone programme is made up of a team of 200 people and since March 2016 their drones have clocked up over 300,000 minutes of flight time delivering products across China. Whilst for Amazon, despite Jeff Bezos announcing back in 2013 that future deliveries would be done by drones, is yet to deliver on that promise. Delivery isn't the only focus for JD's drones; they are developing bigger ones that will be able to carry up to 5 tonnes and can be used to transfer inventory between warehouses.

The e-commerce giant's revenue is growing 40% a year and it is now focused on expanding its market reach. It currently serves China, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam. In January, it opened its first European office, in Paris, and it plans to open another one in Milan.

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