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JD.com CEO details European expansion plans

Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com Inc. aims to expand its footprint across Europe within "a few years" to start challenging Amazon.com Inc. there as early as 2019, the Financial Times reported Feb. 5, citing remarks by company CEO Richard Liu.

Liu told the newspaper that JD's platform and delivery services would debut in France, where it is investing at least €1 billion over two years to develop a logistics network, before venturing into the U.K. and Germany.

In France, JD is launching a procurement center to handle exports of European goods to China, after setting up an office in Paris in January to recruit French brands.

In the U.K., the company will open a London office in April to foster local partnerships, according to the report. It is also planning a research center in Cambridge to focus on artificial intelligence and big data, which would launch in the first half of 2019 and be its first such facility in Europe.

Regarding logistics in Europe, Liu said JD would own a network of warehouses but is considering local partnerships to cover last-mile deliveries in the region. In China, the company operates its own delivery fleet.

Liu's remarks on European expansion come shortly after the company signed deals to sell £2 billion worth of British goods and €2 billion in French goods to Chinese consumers over the next few years.

The CEO told the FT that he expects sales of British goods on the JD.com platform to reach more than £10 billion within three years, surging from the £3 billion-to-£4 billion range in 2017.

Liu also wants to see overseas business contributing half of JD's profits within 10 years, according to the report. In line with this, he recently said the company was preparing for a U.S. expansion, with the aim of launching in Los Angeles by the end of this year.