Feb 9, 2021| ESG

JD Voluntarily Transports COVID-19 Vaccine

Yuchuan Wang

by Yuchuan Wang

On Feb. 9, JD Logistics, JD.com’s logistics arm, began the voluntary transportation of China’s COVID-19 vaccine in Yizhuang, the Economic-Technological Development Area in the south of Beijing. JD will handle the last-mile delivery of the vaccine from a government-designated transfer warehouse to the vaccination points in the area.

JD’s cold chain logistics system ensures the whole procedure of distribution is traceable and controllable. All vaccines are transported between 2 to 8 degrees Celsius. The company’s cold chain monitoring platform will monitor and record real-time location and refrigerator temperature and report abnormal situations immediately.

JD has several ongoing projects concerning the COVID-19 vaccine transportation, and is expected to transport the vaccine in more regions after the Chinese New Year holiday. In January, JD added a dedicated pharmaceuticals warehouse in Shenyang, Liaoning province to its over 800 warehouse network nationwide. The company is also building cold chain sorting centers for pharmaceutical products in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Wuhan, Xi’an and Shenyang.

“JD is among the first of third party companies to develop pharmaceutical logistics, and has been committed to building its integrated pharmaceutical cold chain services,” said a JD Logistics representative. “In the future, JD Logistics will further leverage its advantages in logistics infrastructure, network and capacity, apply advanced technologies and continue investment in this area to drive innovation in the industry. We hope to work with up and downstream partners to build an efficient pharmaceutical cold chain system and help the industry reduce costs.”

(yuchuan.wang@jd.com)

Mar 24, 2023| ESG, JD Retail

JD.com Empowers Farmer-Entrepreneur to Achieve RMB 100 Million Yuan in Annual Sales of Tan Mutton

Vivian Yang

by Vivian Yang

The recent growth of the sheep industry in Ningxia has paved the way for an increasing number of Gen-Zers to return to their hometowns and become actively involved in the integration of traditional sheep farming practices with emerging sales channels. Leveraging e-commerce and logistics infrastructure and technological resources, the production of Tan mutton has become more standardized with strict quality control measures to be offered to the market, including on JD’s online stores.

The Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in China is home to a highly regarded breed of sheep, commonly referred to the Benchland Sheep, also known as the Tan Sheep. Known as “Blue Blood among all sheep,” these remarkable creatures are raised on a diet of Yellow River water and saline-alkaline grassland, resulting in meat that is exceptionally tender and delicious, with a notably low fat content and a subtle aroma.

To date, JD.com has lent its support to more than 30 Tan mutton merchants on its online supermarket platform, offering comprehensive services ranging from marketing and logistics to supply chain technologies and beyond. As a result of this support, total annual sales of Tan mutton surpassed RMB 200 million yuan in 2022, with an impressive two-year compound growth rate of nearly 30 percent.

An increasing number of young villagers have discovered that involvement in the Tan sheep industry offers greater financial rewards than city-based employment, providing tangible proof of JD’s rural revitalization initiative – – “March to Rich Plan.”

In addition to its support of the Tan sheep industry, JD.com has leveraged its advanced digitally intelligent supply chain to bolster over 2,000 industrial belts and hundreds of agricultural production zones across the country, enabling modernization of production methods and brand-building efforts. The ultimate aim of this endeavor is to cultivate a virtuous cycle of high-quality products, enhanced consumer demand, and a sustainable increase in farmers’ incomes.

The succulent mutton hailing from the region nestled in the northwest of China and surrounded by deserts on three sides was handpicked as a staple ingredient for China’s state banquets hosted during the G20, BRICS, and Shanghai Cooperation Organization summits. However, the delicacies produced in this region have historically been challenging to access for people residing in other parts of the country.

A decade ago, local farmers found themselves restricted to selling their sheep solely within their immediate vicinity resulting in inconsistent and often fluctuating income due to the fluctuating pricing of lamb and varying purchase rates from year to year.

Over the course of the past five years, e-commerce has emerged as a powerful tool for connecting farmers with enterprises for collaborative efforts on sheep breeding, meat processing, transportation, and more. As a result of this surge in connectivity, Tan sheep has experienced a surge in popularity among consumers throughout China. JD’s support to Xigouyan village is a case in this point.

“I have a stock of 10,000 sheep this year, and the sales contract was signed a long time ago,” said a farmer surnamed Ma from this village.

“Nowadays, I no longer worry about where or how to sell my sheep. Instead, I can focus solely on raising high-quality sheep and earning a comfortable profit. In good years, I can earn 1 million yuan.” he added.

Ren Jie, the founder of the mutton brand “Tan Sheep Fresh”, is one of the buyers of Ma and his fellow villagers’ sheep. Ren is among the pioneering merchants who set up flagship stores on JD.com in the early days to directly sell Tan mutton to consumers.

After graduating from college, Ren made the decision to return to his hometown in Ningxia, where he established an e-commerce business in 2014 with the intention of introducing the region’s unique agricultural specialties to consumers across the nation. To his amazement, the Tan mutton offering in his online store enjoyed unprecedented success, netting him over 800,000 yuan in just six months stint.

Ren established his brand in 2018 and his business took off on JD.com, exceeding annual sales of 100 million yuan and boasting an impressive annual growth rate of 30 percent over the past three years. Previously, the peak sales season for Tan mutton was confined to the winter season. However, with the assistance of JD Logistics’ cold chain delivery system, Ren’s business has experienced a surge in year-round sales, making his mutton accessible to consumers throughout the year.

Ren’s support for the local community earned him the affectionate nickname of “Mr. Tan Sheep” among the locals, who are grateful for his support.

Read more about JD’s “March to Rich” initiative that has helped hairy crabs, premier rice and more agricultural products to be marketable.

(vivian.yang@jd.com)

Mar 2, 2023| ESG, JD Health

JD Health Releases “Doctor-Searching Map for Rare Diseases”

Vivian Yang

by Vivian Yang

On February 27, one day before the global “Rare Disease Day,” JD Health pledged to step up efforts on supporting people with rare diseases through its “Twenty Million Care Project,” referring to the estimated number of affected patients in China.

Under the project, JD Health launched a new “doctor-searching map for rare diseases” in collaboration with Bo’ao Winhealth Rare Disease Medical Center, gathering information about doctors with experience in treating rare diseases across China and classifying their geographical locations. There’s a saying that goes, “Doctors for rare diseases are even rarer than patients.” JD Health’s digital map is thus created to fill this information gap.

With the help of the map, patients can conveniently look up and contact doctors relevant to their health conditions in areas close to their residence. In some cases, doctors and patients can directly chat online before making in-person appointments.

At the same time, in order to make medicines for rare diseases more accessible, JD Health has been building its medicine supplies in this field since 2021, and as of now is offering nearly 80 percent of medicines and all types of food for special purposes for rare diseases that are available on the Chinese market, becoming China’s most comprehensive online retailer for medicines of this category.

Thanks to JD’s well-established infrastructure of nationwide logistics and omni-channel drug store network, JD Health blazes the path to deliver rare disease medicines whenever and wherever people need them in the country. In 2022, 71,000 patients acquired their medicines for rare diseases and corresponding medical services through JD Health.

Additionally, JD Health’s rare disease care foundation has so far allocated RMB 2.23 million yuan to patients living with any of 35 types of rare diseases. The project also organized 34 charity activities that helped raise more than RMB 700,000 yuan, and attracted over 50,000 merchants on its platform to join this charity program through making voluntary donations per sale. To date, the program has received more than 55 million donations.

Enlin Jin, CEO of JD Health, pointed out that the issue of rare diseases is not only a medical challenge, but also one that affects the whole society. Besides charitable activities, JD Health will continue improving the services for this group of patients, letting more people truly feel supported with medicine supplies and other medical resources, which will be easily accessible and inclusively affordable. Meanwhile, JD Health, as a platform, will also do its best to raise awareness across a wider range of society to support people with rare diseases.

(vivian.yang@jd.com)