JD.com, China's largest e-commerce platform, will begin direct purchases of Korean consumer goods. Direct purchase is a method in which an overseas platform imports products directly and supplies them locally without going through an agent. Corporations can raise sales margins and receive payments stably, and overseas distribution networks can reduce the risks of counterfeits and illegal distribution.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources and the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) held a briefing and consultation session on direct-purchase onboarding with JD.com on Aug. 12 at KOTRA's headquarters in Yangjae-dong, Seoul.
At the event attended by more than 200 consumer-goods corporations, JD.com signed direct-purchase contracts worth $1.5 million with nine Korean companies. Earlier, in June, JD established a purchasing-focused subsidiary in Korea.
Korea's consumer-goods exports to China peaked at about $9.3 billion in 2021, then fell through the pandemic to about $6.5 billion in 2025. However, in the first half of this year (about $3.4 billion), thanks to cooperation with local distribution networks, they rose 8.7% from a year earlier, showing signs of a rebound.
Yang Qikun, JD.com vice chairman, said, "As demand for K-beauty and food is expected to grow with the Korean Wave, we will continue to expand direct purchases of Korean products."
Kang Gam-chan, head of trade and investment at the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI), said, "We will actively support our corporations in smoothly entering the Chinese market through major platforms."