Walmart clears out its shares of Chinese e-tailer JD.com

That’s one way to mark the end of an eight-year partnership

Walmart has divested around $3.6 billion of stock in Chinese e-retailer JD.com, concluding eight years of partnership.

Walmart and JD.com entered a "strategic cooperation" in June 2016, which saw the two collaborate on e-commerce – including the launch of some China-based flagship stores. Walmart agreed at the time to purchase almost 145 million newly created Class A ordinary shares of JD.

As part of the agreement, JD.com provided one-hour delivery service from some Chinese stores in its app and acquired Walmart's stake in e-commerce marketplace Yihaodian.

JD.com also entered an eight-year non-compete arrangement with Walmart which, according to The Reg math, has now ended.

As of March 31, 2024, Walmart held approximately 9.4 percent of JD.com stock, according to the Chinese e-tailer's annual report [PDF].

A Monday SEC filing [PDF] from Walmart showed the number of shares owned by the retail giant is now zero.

The price at which Walmart sold the shares was undisclosed. Reuters has estimated 144.5 million shares were sold for $3.7 billion and Bloomberg has suggested $3.6 billion, which would place the shares at around $24.95 apiece – a discount of 11 percent to Tuesday's close.

In a statement sent to The Register, Walmart said:

"Our strategy in recent years has been consistent, to align our portfolio to have the best path to success in our markets. JD has been a valued partner to us over the past 8 years, and we are committed to a continued commercial relationship with them. This decision allows us to focus on our strong China operations for Walmart China and Sam’s Club, and deploy capital towards other priorities. We look forward to continuing to serve customers and members in China and around the world."

During the retail megalith's Q2 2025 earnings call [PDF], Walmart CEO Douglas McMilllon, said: "In China, strong membership trends and Sam's Club continue to drive double-digit sales growth, and about half of our sales there are digital."

While the call did discuss Walmart’s China operations and strategy, it did not mention JD.com, which has experienced stagnated growth in the face of competition from newer Chinese e-commerce players.

The absence of a JD.com mention stood in contrast to discussion of 85 percent Walmart-owned Indian e-store Flipkart, which received praise for both double-digit growth and operation of next day delivery in over 200 cities.

It's been a tough week for Chinese e-tailers and JD.com rivals. On Monday, the brawl between two of its fast fashion stars escalated when Shein filed a lawsuit against Temu alleging counterfeiting, theft of trade secrets, infringement of intellectual property rights, and fraud.

In response, Temu took an I-know-you-are-but-what-am-I approach and told The Register Shein was fabricating accusations against others "for the very misconduct they're repeatedly sued for." ®