Google invests $550m in Chinese e-commerce JD.com

Google said it will buy $550m of shares in Chinese e-commerce company JD.com as part of a collaboration to expand the search behemoth's reach in South East Asia.

Google's purchase of 27.1m shares in JD.com, bought at $20.29 per share, equates to less than 1% stake.

The two companies plan to collaborate on a set of strategic initiatives including the combination of JD’s supply chain and logistics background with Google’s tech to develop retail solutions in south east Asia, Europe and the US.

Aside from Google entering the Chinese e-commerce market where its main products of its search engine, maps, Gmail and YouTube remain banned, the move will also benefit JD which could use Google’s parent company Alphabet to enter European markets.

"This partnership with Google opens up a broad range of possibilities to offer a superior retail experience to consumers throughout the world," JD's chief strategy officer, Jianwen Liao, said in a statement Monday.

Google and JD had teamed up funding Indonesia’s Go-Jek, a new competitor in the ride-hailing business in Southeast Asia.