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JD.com controversies

Controversies tied to this brand in public sources. A listing is not a finding of fault.

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  1. 2026

    JD procurement manager responds to Douyin e-commerce lawsuit

    Company response

    A JD procurement manager, Zuo Qi, publicly responded to a lawsuit filed by Douyin e-commerce against JD procurement and sales. In the response, Zuo Qi questioned why an article with little user interaction appeared on a trending list. The case was still being heard at the time of the report, and no final determination was reported. The event was covered in a report published on October 16, 2026.

    JD procurement manager Zuo Qi publicly responded to the lawsuit by Douyin e-commerce against JD procurement and sales, questioning why an article with little user interaction appeared on a trending list. The case was still being heard, with no final determination reported.

    Company response

    • Clarification — 京东

      京东采销经理左琦在朋友圈公开发声,正面回应抖音电商起诉一事,抛出了一个行业热议的疑问:一篇几乎没有用户互动的稿件,为什么能冲上热榜?

    Source excerpt

    • 抖音电商起诉京东采销的案件目前还在审理推进过程中,暂未有最终定论。
    • 京东采销经理左琦在朋友圈公开发声,正面回应抖音电商起诉一事,抛出了一个行业热议的疑问:一篇几乎没有用户互动的稿件,为什么能冲上热榜?
  2. 2024

    Promotion with Yang Li sparks boycott by some users; company stops related cooperation

    In October 2024, JD's Double 11 promotion cooperated with stand-up comedian Yang Li, triggering boycotts by some users and demands for membership refunds. Caixin reported that the company said it would stop the related cooperation. This entry concerns an advertising cooperation and social media marketing controversy, and does not find the views of the comedian or consumers themselves to be unlawful.

  3. 2022

    Founder Richard Liu settles civil lawsuit over sexual assault allegation

    In October 2022, JD founder Richard Liu reached a settlement with Liu Jingyao, who had filed a civil lawsuit over the 2018 Minnesota incident; the terms were not disclosed. Reports also record that Liu denied wrongdoing; the settlement itself does not mean a court found sexual assault established. The incident involves allegations about the founder's personal conduct.

  4. 2021

    China fines technology companies for failing to report deals

    Fine or penalty

    In a controversy noted in November 2021, China's market regulator fined Alibaba, Baidu, JD.com and other companies 500,000 yuan each for failing to declare 43 deals, stating that the companies had violated antitrust legislation. The regulator said the deals did not eliminate or restrict competition. The event was reported as a penalty for failure to report transactions rather than for the substance of the deals themselves.

    Source excerpt

    • Enterprises involved in the cases would be fined 500,000 yuan ($78,000) each, it said, the maximum under China's 2008 Anti-Monopoly Law.
    • The deals, however, did not have the effect of eliminating or restricting competition, the regulator said.
    • China's market regulator on Saturday said it was fining companies including Alibaba, Baidu, and JD.com for failing to declare 43 deals that date as far back as 2012 to authorities, saying that they violated antitrust legislation, Reuters reported.
  5. 2021

    Gigabyte faces consumer backlash in China over marketing copy

    Public backlash

    Gigabyte faced a consumer boycott in China after its Chinese-language website described Chinese contract manufacturing as low-cost and low-quality and stated that 90% of its notebooks were made in Taiwan. Gigabyte removed the page and apologized, saying the text was inconsistent with the facts and resulted from poor internal management; JD.com and Suning.com were also removing Gigabyte product listings.

    Company response

    • Apology — Gigabyte

      Gigabyte quickly took down the web page and apologized on its China-based website.

    Source excerpt

    • Gigabyte quickly took down the web page and apologized on its China-based website. “A few days ago, part of the text published on our official website was seriously inconsistent with the facts,” Gigabyte said. “It was caused by poor internal management of the company.”
    • Despite the apology, Bloomberg reports that Gigabyte is now facing a boycott from Chinese consumers. The country’s e-commerce providers, JD.com and Suning.com, have also been removing Gigabyte product listings from their sites.
    • The controversy started on Gigabyte’s Chinese-language website, which apparently posted a page touting its “Made in Taiwan” products. “Unlike other brands that’ve chosen low-cost, low-quality contract manufacturing in China, Gigabyte is devoted to creating outstanding, high-quality components and laptop computers,” the page said.
  6. 2020

    Fined 500,000 yuan each over Double 11 unfair pricing practices

    In December 2020, the State Administration for Market Regulation imposed administrative penalties on the relevant platform operators of JD, Tmall, and Vipshop, fining each 500,000 yuan for pricing practices such as raising prices before offering discounts and fabricating original prices. This entry records the activities and business entities specified in the penalties, and does not presume that all merchants have the same type of problem.

  7. 2020

    Shenzhou rebuts JD.com’s account of a payment dispute

    Company response

    In a dispute between Shenzhou and JD.com, Shenzhou denied violating its product purchase-and-sale agreement with JD.com and stated that JD.com owed it a large sum. According to Shenzhou, it had made repeated payment demands that were refused, and it said that going to court was a lawful way to resolve the dispute. The event was reported on February 21, 2020.

    Stated objective. To stabilize the platform’s operating order.

    Company response

    • Clarification — 神舟

      21日中午,神舟发布回应称,神舟没有违反双方签署的产品购销协议的任何条款;京东的声明也证明京东确实拖欠了其巨款
    • Remediation — 京东

      并清退了严重违规的7家商家,且永不与其合作。

    Source excerpt

    • 21日中午,神舟发布回应称,神舟没有违反双方签署的产品购销协议的任何条款;京东的声明也证明京东确实拖欠了其巨款;在神舟再三追款而京东拒不支付的情况下,神舟去法院起诉完全是合理合法的解决途径。
    • 在消费者权益保护的问题上,京东是有义务进行明确说明。
    • 有法律相关人士介绍,相关活动在法律上不构成黄牛倒卖,京东是官方授权销售渠道,争议主要在商业伦理层面。
  8. 2020

    China fines JD.com, Tmall and Vipshop over pricing

    Fine or penalty

    China's market regulator stated that it fined JD.com, Alibaba's Tmall and Vipshop 500,000 yuan each for irregular pricing related to Nov. 11 shopping events. The regulator said the fines followed consumer complaints. The announcement concerned pricing practices connected to the Nov. 11 shopping events and identified the three platforms as recipients of the penalties.

    China’s market regulator said it fined JD.com, Alibaba’s Tmall and Vipshop 500,000 yuan each for irregular pricing related to Nov. 11 shopping events, following consumer complaints.

    Source excerpt

    • BEIJING: China’s market regulator said on Dec 30 it has fined JD.Com Inc, Alibaba’s Tmall and Vipshop 500,000 yuan (RM308,798) each for irregular pricing.
    • The State Administration of Market Regulation (SAMR) said in a social media post that it had taken the decision after it received consumer complaints over the companies’ pricing strategies related to Nov 11 shopping events.
    • 并于2020年12月24日依据《价格法》第四十条、《价格违法行为行政处罚规定》第七条作出处罚决定,对上述三家企业分别处以50万元人民币罚款的行政处罚。
  9. 2020

    JD subsidiary fined for misleading commercial advertising

    Fine or penalty

    Authorities determined that Beijing JD Century Information Technology Co., Ltd. engaged in false or misleading commercial advertising, ordered it to stop the conduct, and fined it 200,000 yuan.

    Source excerpt

    • 行政处罚决定书表示,北京京东世纪信息技术有限公司上述行为已构成虚假或者引人误解的商业宣传的违法行为。依据《中华人民共和国反不正当竞争法》第二十条第一款的规定,责令当事人停止停止违法行为并对其处罚款200000元。