Walmart tears up China online strategy with JD.com stake sale

NEW YORK, – Walmart’s stake in Chinese e-commerce firm JD.com was once central to its China strategy. Now it is tearing up that playbook by unloading its entire $3.74 billion stake in one of China’s biggest online retailers, in another example of the volatile nature of its relationship with China.

The unshackling from JD.com is emblematic of the broader strategic withdrawal of the world’s largest retailer from markets where profitability has proven elusive. It follows the retailer’s exits from several big markets over the past few years, including Japan, Britain, Brazil and Argentina, which industry-watchers have attributed to Walmart’s difficulty in competing with nimble local rivals.