On 3 June 2020, SCO Secretary-General Vladimir Norov met with Jingdong Vice-President Xu Feng at the initiative of the company.
The officials discussed cooperation in online trade and e-commerce within the SCO space, the possibility of selling goods produced in SCO member countries via the Jingdong online platform, as well as the creation of logistics centres and relevant infrastructure.
Mr Norov advised Xu Feng about the history, development stages and current activities of the Organisation. He emphasised that the promotion of ICT, the digital economy and e-commerce are among the priorities of cooperation within the SCO. He also provided information about the adopted documents on digitalisation and the activity of relevant working groups within the SCO.
"The COVID-19 pandemic has made it clear that digital transformation and information and communications technology are indispensable for the further functioning of the economy and society in general. The novel virus has prompted the development of e-commerce and the rapid digitalisation of the economy," the SCO Secretary-General said.
Mr Norov emphhasised that the SCO space, which accounts for almost a half of the world's population, is a huge market for innovative IT and digital economy projects. In this regard, Jingdong was invited to hold a joint event to establish cooperation with the SCO member states. The SCO Secretary-General also thanked the company for the humanitarian aid it provided to the countries of the SCO family.
In his turn, Xu Feng briefed the Secretary-General about the history of Jingdong and its external relations. He also spoke about the activities of the company amid the pandemic of the novel coronavirus aimed at combatting the spread of it. "We used our unmanned delivery for the first time during the COVID-19 pandemic in Wuhan. Our company invests in its own logistics to simplify the delivery to the customers," he said, adding that Jingdong is interested in mutually beneficial cooperation with the SCO member states.
The meeting took place in a warm and friendly atmosphere.
Jingdong is a Chinese company founded in 1998 and engaged in online trade. The headquarters is located in Beijing. As of the end of 2019, it has employed over 220,000 people and has been making $82.9 billion. The number of active clients of the platform reached some 387 million people.