Amazon, facing entrenched rivals, says to shut China online store

The move underscores how entrenched, home-grown e-commerce rivals have made it difficult for Amazon’s marketplace to gain traction in China. Consumer research firm iResearch Global said Alibaba Group Holding’s Tmall marketplace and JD.com controlled 82 percent of the Chinese e-commerce market last year.

An Amazon spokeswoman told Reuters on Thursday that it is notifying sellers that it will no longer operate a marketplace, nor provide seller services on Amazon.cn.

Sources familiar with its plans had told Reuters a day before that the company had planned to make such a move.