Through the recent outbreak of the novel Coronavirus in the Hubei Province, where the district of Wuhan is under partial quarantine, one local enterprise is persevering in the face of economic impact to aid the prevention and treatment of the disease.

China’s largest online retailer Jingdong has raised more than RMB 200 million in order to help combat the fight against this epidemic. The online retailer is one of the most technologically advanced companies in the country with a well established logistics network that they use for their reliable delivery service to both urban and remote areas of China.

Perhaps more than the money, what has helped the Hubei province more is the decision of the the founder and CEO Liu Quingdong aka Richard Liu is to use these technological advancements and strategies to help the cause.

During the entire crisis, where people have lost their livelihoods owing to the fact that businesses have shut down, JD.com has provided fresh jobs. Since the Coronavirus outbreak it created 35000 new jobs to curb the high unemployment rate in the region. These jobs include 20,000 positions which are a part of the logistics division of JD. Richard Liu knows that this will include positions such as drivers, couriers, pickers, and warehouse workers.

Since more and more people are avoiding leaving their house, there is a huge demand for online delivery service. Because of this the Dada Group which is backed by JD.com is being directed by the online retail company to offer 10,000 additional couriers for ensuring that it remains the best on-demand delivery company.

For Jingdong staying in operations is extremely important. They have changed their supply chain slightly to benefit the people and reduce the risk of spreading the virus. Instead of stocking new items especially food items in their brick and mortar schools they are now skipping that and delivering the food items straight to people’s homes, that way they have not been out in the open in a store visited by thousands and therefore are not exposed to any possible contamination of the Coronavirus. The company is able to do this thanks to its long standing relationship with many of the brands whose products it distributes on its platform. The online retailer has reported that this strategy has worked since the demand for food staples such as rice has quadrupled from last year.

We know that Jingdong is committed to seeing the country return to its flourishing state as it once was, and they are sure this will happen. The company has ensured a good inventory for the upcoming Chinese New Year festivities so that people can celebrate by ordering the essentials online.

The subsidiary of the online retailer JD Logistics has been providing delivery services to pharmaceutical companies in the Hubei province, allowing for a more efficient and faster delivery of medicine. It is also in continuous effort of delivering masks to the areas where preventive campaigns are underway and equipment and medicines in Hubei Hospitals where patients who are suffering from the Coronavirus being treated.

In order to make sure that the increased undertaking that JD Logistics is now involved in since the fight against Coronavirus, it is putting measures in place to make sure that the 250,000 merchants who use the warehouse services are not burdened. Their subsidy support measures are worth RMB 1 billion.

Apart from this, JD.com has invested RMB 100 million as an expense reduction for traffic, and promotion activity support, advertisement, and logistics fees.