Suning

Suning.com started in 1990 as an air conditioner distributor. Over the years, Suning.com has developed into a massive electronic retailer in China. The company has benefited from China’s government reforms and policies that facilitate economic growth in the country.

In 2009, Suning.com announced an agreement to become the largest shareholder in Laox, a Japanese electronics retailer. Suning.com intended to learn Japanese sales techniques and customer services from Laox as its operational base.

The company provides employment opportunities to about 45,598 people.

In 2009, Suning.com launched a research and development center in the United States and started the online sale of its products the same year. In 2013, the company changed its name from Suning Appliances to Suning Commerce Group, and later in 2013, the company changed its name again to Suning.com.

Suning.com focuses on three central business units, i.e., retail, logistics, and finance. The company provides offline and online digital services, including brand promotions, supply chain management and product customization. In 2016, Suning.com paid $306 million to obtain a significant stake in the Italian club, Inter Milan. Since the acquisition, the club has spent considerably on players signing like Romelu Lukaku from Manchester United, Christian Eriksen from Tottenham Hotspurs, Achraf Hakimi from Borussia Dortmund, and the former coach Antonio Conte. In 2019, Suning.com purchased 80% stakes from Carrefour China to build the chain’s internet operations. The company has expanded rapidly by acquiring a department store chain from Wanda Group. In 2020, Suning.com’s revenue amounted to 252 billion Yuan, a decrease from 269.2 billion Yuan in 2019. Suning.com finished the year with 33.61% growth sales. In 2020, Suning.com was ranked at number 324 on Fortunes Global List. In a bid to cut its losses, Suning.com decided to suspend its non-core operations and focus on its primary electronic retail areas. In February 2021, Suning.com agreed to transfer 8% of its shares to state-owned investors Shenzhen International Holdings Ltd. Shaning.com also moved 15% of its shares to another state-owned investor called Shenzhen Kunpeng Equity Investment Management Co Ltd. After the acquisition, Shaning.com conceded that the new investors in Shenzhen and Kunpeng would standardize the company governance and its management in an attempt to revive the company and save it from collapsing. As of 2021, Suning.com owes a debt of more than 200 billion Yuan in total to its debtors, with 60 billion Yuan due in one year. On August 2021, Suning.com creditors through China Construction Bank Corp filed a claim in the Hong Kong High Court against Suning.com in an attempt to recoup $255 million debt. According to the filed lawsuit, Suning.com failed to clear the $165 million agreement, and $85 million is supposed to have been due by 2021. In its May 2021 financial report, Suning.com expressed its economic challenges as the reason for the company’s failure to honor the debt agreement. In July 2021, the founder of Suning.com, Zhang Jindong, resigned as chairman. In May 2021, Huang Mingduan, chairman of Alibaba-controlled hypermarket chain Sun Art Retail Group, took over as chairman of Suning.com.