It was reported by many on Chinese social media that JD.com founders have left China and moved to the US. Now, it has been stated by JD.com that the founders have not gone anywhere. JD.com’s statement read that “gossip circulating on social media, alleging that the couple had moved to the US or spent more than US$100 million there to buy luxury homes, were fabricated. It added that the company had reported the case to the Chinese police”. A lawyer associated with the company also stated that “legal actions would be taken against any parties spreading the “false information”, which had “seriously damaged the reputation of Liu and Zhang”.” SCMP reports that “Any attempt by a Chinese private entrepreneur to transfer assets to the US or apply for residence permits in foreign countries is usually interpreted by Chinese netizens as a sign of disloyalty to the country.”
SCMP also adds that “There has been no public evidence showing that Liu and Zhang, who was dubbed “Milk Tea Sister” after an image of her holding a cup of bubble tea as a high school student went viral online, had emigrated to the US or purchased property there”. As per some reports “Zhang was said to have bought a four-bedroom, five-bathroom penthouse at Stamford Residences, a luxury apartment building located in the historic Sydney neighbourhood of The Rocks, for US$12 million in 2015, months before her wedding ceremony in Australia. She reportedly sold the flat for US$16 million in 2018″.
The reason why this has become a issue in China is because of Alibaba founder Jack Ma’s incident where he went away from China for almost an year to return earlier this year. This was seen as Ma’s attempt to avoid the scrutiny of Chinese authorities on him and his companies. Due to this reason, investors are very careful as to where its founders are because it could spell trouble for them and their company as well. JD.com founder Liu also grabbed headlines when a “Chinese student at the University of Minnesota accused him of raping her while he was in Minneapolis for a week-long residency as part of the school’s doctor of business administration programme”.
