by Ling Cao

During the coronavirus outbreak, JD in cooperation with its partners, such as Cosco Shipping, has helped institutions from the UK, US, and Indonesia transport donations to hospitals in Wuhan.

JD Logistics, which operates an in-house nationwide logistics network covering 99% of the population, has been critical in helping international organizations such as the North American E-Commerce Logistics Association, University of Southern California Beijing Alumni Association, Sino-Hellenic Investors’ Confederation and the Canada Hubei Chamber of Commerce in Quebec, Canada, among others, transport three millions masks, 300,000 sets of medical protective clothing, and 100,000 pairs of protective goggles to Wuhan and the surrounding areas via local delivery in China.

1,800 sets of medical protective clothing, nearly 8,500 pairs of gloves and 70 pairs of goggles from the UK to Wuhan in less than three days

It took less than three days for JD to deliver 1,800 sets of medical protective clothing, nearly 8,500 pairs of gloves and 70 pairs of goggles from the UK to Wuhan. The company’s free support made possible the delivery of this aid, organized by a UK task force made up of several different universities’ student groups and alumni associations, including the Cambridge Chinese Students’ Association (CCSA), the Oxford CSA, the Peking University Alumni Association, and the Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST) Alumni Association.

JD is also helping US organizations deliver over 500,000 masks and 11,000 sets of medical protective clothing from the US to Wuhan. Divided into three shipments, the first donation is already on the way from Los Angeles to Wuhan Union Hospital. The remainder of the donation will set off soon from the US and Mexico, also destined for hospitals in Wuhan.

With JD’s support, 60,000 3M masks have been transported from Indonesia to Wuhan. They were shipped by air and then traveled via rail and road from Jakarta, Indonesia to customs in Guangzhou, before reaching Wuhan.

International business shippings often face challenges related to reliable transportation and customs clearance. JD and its partners have helped businesses to facilitate customs clearance, and to ensure that once donations reach China, they make it to hospitals in Wuhan in good condition and as quickly as possible. Yulei Liu, head of Faxin delivery station at Beijing nearest to the airport, said, “Goods that can be shipped by air are shipped by air to ensure that they can get to Wuhan as fast as possible. We’re all in this fight together.”

While keeping both aid and other goods flowing to Hubei and the rest of China, JD has also instituted several measures to support importing merchants during the coronavirus period. This includes subsidies and giving priority to shipments from high demand export centers in Australia, the US, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Germany, and the UK. Shipments from merchants using JD’s integrated bonded warehouse and delivery service are receiving priority fulfillment. To ensure that merchants without reliable delivery options can also access its services, JD has also opened an expedited sign up process.

(ling.cao@jd.com)