JD com : and Beijing Automotive Group Expand Partnership to Accelerate Digital Transfor …

by Kelly Dawson

JD.com signed a memorandum of cooperation on June 7 to deepen its partnership with Beijing Automotive Group Co., Ltd. (BAIC), a major automobile manufacturer in China and Fortune Global 500 company. The two companies will focus on expanding cooperation based on digital transformation in the areas of both commercial and autonomous delivery vehicles, industrial product platforms, digital marketing, intelligent supply chain and more.

Additionally, by leveraging JD Auto resources, the partners will expand vehicle maintenance and other value-added services in the automotive aftermarket, including IP brand customization, design and more, with an aim to establish a new intelligent service model offering full-scenario, multi-level, modular automotive supply chain logistics solutions.

'Digital transformation has important significance for BAIC's development,' said Chen Jiang, deputy general manager of BAIC. 'Whether in terms of the country's economic development strategy or from the perspective of industry trends, the question of accelerating digital transformation is no longer an answer with multiple choices. It's a must-do to win the future. This deepening of the cooperation between BAIC and JD.com is a cross-border cooperation under the trend of accelerating the integration of the automobile industry and the Internet industry, and a new exploration for the transformation and upgrading of the automobile industry.'

Wang Peinuan, Vice President and Head of JD's Strategic Cooperation department, said that the partnership will drive technological innovation in the auto industry. 'It is JD's specialty to support the digitalization of the real economy with the capabilities of digital and intelligence social supply chain. Relying on digital exploration and accumulation in the fields of retail, logistics, finance and supply chain, JD is committed to becoming a fellow traveler on BAIC's digital transformation journey, with an aim to help BAIC lead the new era of the automotive industry.'

In terms of digital marketing and business cooperation, the two companies will continue to strengthen BAIC's marketing and sales and user operations based on JD's deep experience and expertise in digital management and innovation.

JD and BAIC will also cooperate in the research and development of autonomous delivery vehicles based on JD's logistics needs. This development will build on past cooperation in two forms of procurement and leasing to promote the upgrading of autonomous delivery vehicles.

BAIC will continue to rely on JD Cloud's industrial digitalization to build a leading cloud for the automotive industry, in support of BAIC's manufacturing, digital R&D, automotive aftermarket and more. Additionally, the two companies will work together on artificial intelligence, blockchain, smart supply chain and more, establishing new paths for smart manufacturing. By combining BAIC's advantages in the automotive industry and JD's AI capabilities, the companies will jointly build a traceable supply chain system of complete vehicles, spare parts and more.

The new memorandum of cooperation is a continuation of a fruitful relationship that was first formalized in the signing of a framework cooperation agreement in October 2019. Since then, the two companies have partnered on numerous projects including BAIC's 'Blue Valley Cloud,' a private cloud platform built on JD Cloud technology. BAIC has deployed more than 70 systems to the cloud, and is expected to achieve a 20% annual cost reduction as a result of the technology.

Additionally, the two companies cooperated to build BAIC's new digital marketing and user operation platform, which is currently undergoing internal testing and expected to start trial operation later this year.

The cooperation between the two companies is an example of how China is accelerating the use of technology to empower the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, as outlined in the country's 14^th Five-Year Plan. Under this new development blueprint, digital technology is transforming various industries, with the auto industry expected to play a major role due to IoT integration.

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