NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

JD.com, Inc. (“JD.com” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: JD), China’s largest online direct sales company, and Grameen China, the China-based entity of Grameen Trust (“GT”), a non-profit and non-government organization committed to the cause of poverty alleviation, today announced that they have reached an agreement on a strategic partnership inChina.

The partnership will use JD.com’s crowdfunding platform to raise money to establish Grameen China’s ground operations, and future cooperation will likely also use the platform to provide micro-loans for entrepreneurs in rural areas of China, which have been underserved by the traditional banking system. To kick off the partnership, JD Finance, the finance business unit of JD.com, and Grameen China today launched a crowdfunding microfinance project, led by Nobel Laureate and GT founder Mahammad Yunus, a pioneer in microcredit and microfinance.

On December 17, 2014, Mr. Yunus and Richard Liu, Founder and CEO of JD.com, will host a fundraising breakfast to formally launch the partnership between JD.com and Grameen China. Tickets to attend the event are available at z.jd.com, with proceeds to support Grameen China’s efforts in the country.

“JD.com is extremely proud to provide a platform for Grameen Trust, the global leader in microfinance, and Mahammad Yunus to expand their groundbreaking work helping to alleviate poverty in China by empowering rural entrepreneurs,” Mr. Liu said. “In line with our vision to give back to the communities that have made us successful, we look forward to drawing on the expertise of Grameen Trust to strengthen JD.com’s microfinance and crowdfunding efforts to more effectively empower people living in rural areas of China.”

Mr. Zhan Gao, President and CEO of Grameen China, commented, “The partnership between Grameen China and JD.com is a landmark step in the development of China’s nascent microfinance efforts. Grameen’s expertise in empowering people in rural areas to lift themselves out of poverty, combined with JD.com huge user base and reach into targeted areas, provides a tremendous opportunity to make a real difference in people’s lives.”