May 10, 2019 - Economy & Business

Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com sees its slowest revenue growth on record

A red and black robot with a smiley face rolls across the street

A JD.com delivery bot in Tianjin, China. Photo: VCG via Getty Images

The 21% revenue growth posted by Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com in the first quarter of 2019 is its slowest on record, signaling that the rush of new Chinese customers is starting to plateau. JD's chief rival, Alibaba, has also reported slowing growth.

Why it matters: The e-commerce companies experienced massive booms in earlier years as millions of new Chinese users entered the urban middle class and became customers. Now, the pace of growth for that user base is slowing down, forcing both JD and Alibaba to expand into other Asian markets to add shoppers.

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