Archives November 2015

JD.com files complaint against Alibaba for ‘disrupting market order’

Working staff distribute packs in an express company in Hangzhou, East China’s Zhejiang province, Nov 12, 2012. The annual Single’s Day which falls on Nov 11 has become a shopping festival under a continuous sales promotion of e-commerce groups.

JD.com Inc,China’s second-largest e-commerce site, filed a complaint to industry authority claiming that its rival Alibaba Group Holding Ltd was “disrupting the market order”.

In a complaint filed on Tuesday to the State Administration of Industry and Commerce, the Beijing-based company said Alibaba told retailers to pick a side during the upcoming Singles’ Day, China’s largest online shopping festival, which falls on next Wednesday.

“Alibaba conveyed a message to retailers that if they participated in its Tmall’s promotion campaign on the Singles Day, they will not allowed to attend similar events held by rival sites,” JD said in a statement.

Alibaba threatened to direct less traffic to retailers who were unwilling to follow its demands, JD claimed, adding “such behavior poses barriers to market competition and severely undermines consumers’ interests.”

In response, Alibaba said late Tuesday that let consumers decide which platforms they are willing to choose. “Market-related problems should resort to the market for solution. We will continue offering consumers quality products at lower prices,” Alibaba said.

The State Administration of Industry and Commerce was not immediately available for comment.

The dispute comes as the country’s e-commerce sites intensify efforts to vie for retail partners for the upcoming Singles’ Day, when millions of consumers flood to websites for bargain shopping.

Taiwan’s manufacturing index drops again

Taiwan’s manufacturing industry reported sluggish figures in October, echoing the damp situation of the island’s general economy.

The purchasing managers index (PMI), a key indicator for manufacturing, dropped month on month, for a fourth consecutive month, by 0.1 points from September to 46 in October, according to a monthly report from the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research, a local think tank.

It also remained below the 50 mark for a fourth straight month, the report said.

A PMI reading above 50 shows expansion in manufacturing activity, while a figure below 50 signals contraction.

All five indicators for the PMI — new orders, production, inventories, employment and supplier deliveries — showed a contraction.

Among six industrial sectors, only the sector of chemical, biochemical and medical rose above 50 to 54.1 points in October from 48.4 the previous month. The rest contracted.

Taiwan’s GDP in the third quarter shrank by 1.01 percent year on year, the first reduction since the fourth quarter of 2009, when the island was affected by the global financial crisis.

Its authorities announced a package of short-term stimulus policies last week, including subsidies for the purchase of energy-efficient home appliances, for travel and for residents who replace their outdated cell phones with smartphones.

Wu Chung-shu, president of the Chung-Hua Institution, suggested that the island should work out long-term policies to cope with the challenges causing economic slowdown, such as the aging labor force and declining fiscal revenue.