Alibaba and JD.com will lower payment and logistics barriers

HONG KONG – Chinese e-commerce rivals Alibaba Group and JD.com have reached an agreement to further open their closed ecosystems to each other amid slowing user growth and antitrust scrutiny from Beijing, sources familiar with the matter told Nikkei Asia.

Under the agreement, which the companies were scheduled to begin implementing in late October, Alibaba’s Taobao and Tmall will integrate JD’s logistics services, and JD will add Alipay, Alibaba’s fintech arm, as an additional payment option, one of the sources said. The person described the move as mutually beneficial and “in line with Beijing’s antitrust directive.”