Amazon’s Chinese joint venture ‘in merger talks with ecommerce giant Kaola’
Ecommerce is more attractive in China in part because consumers there say they buy products online ‘more for convenience than price’
Bengaluru —Amazon.com's Chinese joint venture is in talks about a merger with local ecommerce firm Kaola, which sells imported products in the Asian country, business magazine Caijing reported on Tuesday. Kaola, owned by Nasdaq-listed NetEase, sells apparel, household appliances and other products, and is the biggest among Chinese shopping sites that focus on imported goods, followed by Tmall Global and JD Worldwide, according to a report from consulting agency iiMedia. Read the report here. It buys goods directly from overseas manufacturers and last year it imported more than 5,000 brands from 80 countries. Amazon said it did not comment on market speculation. NetEase declined to comment. NetEase shares rose 3.5% to $235.50 in early trade in New York. While Amazon's profits and sales are growing strongly, it has pumped billions of dollars into developing markets including India and China in the hopes of generating future profits. Its international operating loss dipped to $642m in ...
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