A strategic partnership between JD.com and Farfetch leverages JD's logistics, Internet finance and technology capabilities and social media resources, including its WeChat partnership, with Farfetch's leadership in global luxury, to create a frictionless and seamless brand experience. Farfetch has well-established operations in China and is already the partner of choice for 200 luxury brands and more than 500 multi-brand retailers. JD will help drive further brand awareness, traffic and sales for Farfetch in the market.

As part of this partnership, JD.com will become one of the largest shareholders of Farfetch, investing 397 million US dollars and Richard Liu, JD.com's founder and CEO, will join the Farfetch board. JD and Farfetch will partner on marketing, logistics and technology solutions to build the brand in China, while Farfetch will continue to be the customer-facing brand.

The combined strength of the Farfetch-JD partnership will benefit all 700 brands and boutiques that are part of the Farfetch community, enabling them to take advantage of the vast resources of this new gateway to China's luxury market.

With this new deal JD will leap further into the luxury sector, while Farfetch will get an important push into the Chinese market.

For Chinese consumers, this combination of Farfetch's luxury know-how, and JD's blazing same-day delivery speeds, will provide an unparalleled luxury proposition.

In addition, through the partnership, Farfetch users in China will also gain access to a variety of services from JD Finance. These will include JD Pay, which will be a preferred payments partner, and Baitiao, JD Finance's popular consumer microcredit channel.

The announcement comes as JD is placing a greater focus on high-end luxury and fashion to match the huge demand among its upwardly mobile customers. Since the beginning of the year, the company has hired Winston Cheng as President of International to lead its international business development with global partners and overseas investments. In 2017 JD Fashion has made a major push in the luxury and fashion areas, launching several key international brands on the site, including Armani, Swarovski and Zenith.

"We are deeply honoured and excited to be announcing this partnership with Richard Liu and JD.com", stated José Neves, Founder, Co-Chairman and CEO of Farfetch, adding: "China is the world's second largest luxury market, and we are delighted to have such a respected partner."