Japanese shopping center operator Aeon Mall Co. has begun cooperating with the Indonesian unit of Chinese electronic commerce company JD.com Inc. in opening real and online shops, launching joint promotional drives and starting new businesses.

On Tuesday, the Indonesian unit, JD.ID, opened the first JD.ID Electronic store in Indonesia at Aeon Mall Sentul City in Bogor, West Java Province to sell computers, communications equipment and home electric appliances. Aeon Mall Sentul City is the third Aeon Mall in Indonesia launched in October last year.

Under a memorandum signed Sept. 6 on their cooperation, JD.ID plans to open JD.ID. Electronic stores also at two existing Aeon Malls in Indonesia and at Aeon Mall Tanjung Barat in the south of Jakarta, which is expected to start operations during the October-December period this year as a fourth Aeon Mall in Indonesia, the Japanese company said.

The Japanese shopping mall operator said it is planning to launch virtual Aeon Mall shops at JD.ID's online marketplaces. The arrangement will allow Aeon Mall tenants in the virtual shops to sell goods by electronic commerce and hand them to customers at real shopping malls or deliver them.

Aeon Mall and JD.ID also envision jointly launching promotional drives using digital tools.

Aeon Mall is also planning to set up showrooms in its malls for goods from Japanese companies that have not operated in Indonesia and enable them to be sold through JD.ID websites.

==Kyodo

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