A book that tells JD.com's success story, warts and all

Author Li Zhigang (fifth from left), trade analysts and company officials of Jingdong attend the launch ceremony of Founding Jingdong, a book that tells the story of how a small booth in Beijing grew into a giant online business in less than two decades. Photo provided to China Daily

The first authorized book about online giant JD.com tells the story of how a small booth in Beijing's Zhongguancun area grew into one of China's biggest online retailers in less than two decades.

Founding Jingdong (the Nasdaq-listed company's Chinese name) is a long-form examination by business writer Li Zhigang, who has extensive experience working for a range of newspapers and magazines.

It was released last Wednesday.

Li spent a year interviewing 258 people, including the JD.com founder Liu Qiangdong, senior company officials, investors and ordinary employees. The result is a 290-page book of about 280,000 words.

"The Web will reinvent all traditional businesses," Li says.

"Retail is undergoing a vast change. JD.com is an interesting case study in this respect, so I chose to write about it."

The company that today has a market value of more than $40 billion, started as an electronics business in Zhongguancun, China's answer to Silicon Valley. Liu sold such items as disc burners starting in 1998, aged 24.

While pirated goods were prevalent and brought in bigger bucks, Liu sold real brands for marginal profits.

The quality and service earned trust. He opened 12 stores within five years, generating 10 million yuan ($1.6 million).

SARS nearly killed the company in the cradle when it erupted in 2003, keeping many people at home. JD responded by moving online. As online shopping grew in popularity, JD.com decided in 2005 to shutter all its bricks-and-mortar stores.

It was a huge risk. Many in the company opposed it.