Chinese e-commerce group JD.com billionaire founder Liu Qiangdong has returned to China on Monday after spending a night at the Hennepin County Jail in Minnesota, USA due to allegation of sexual assault.
"We were informed that our CEO Richard Qiangdong Liu was taken into custody by Minneapolis Police on August 31, 2018. He has been released without any charges and without requirement for bail," the press release of JD.com stated.
The arrest of Liu stemmed from an allegation of sexual misconduct involving him and a Chinese student during Liu's engagement for a business-education programme at the University of Minnesota.
According to the Minneapolis Police Department, Liu was released pending a formal complaint and that the investigation on the case is also ongoing. The police department also said that there are no travel restrictions imposed on Liu.
The JD.com is the second largest online retailing and e-commerce company in China, following Jack Ma's Alibaba. Sometime last June 2018, the company signed partnership with Google as one if its expansion efforts at the international market. Its partnership with Google also serves as a great venue in promoting products of Chinese online merchants to the world market. Meanwhile, the JD.com has numerous trading partners in the USA such as famous brands Prada, Nike and Levi's. They utilize the online selling site of JD.com to reach the Chinese market especially the middle class.
Early this year, Liu made his first international appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. He shared his life story and the humble beginnings of JD.com.
Considered to be one of China's wealthiest businessmen, Liu was born into a poor family in Jiangsu, China during 1970s. The village people were supportive of him when he earned a spot at the prestigious and famous Renmin Univeristy in Beijing. The villagers even donated cash and sold boiled eggs just to sustain his schooling.
After he graduated from school, Liu started a counter store in Beijing that sold computer parts. In 2003, he shut down his business due to poor sales because local Chinese people seldom left their homes for fear of catching the deadly Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) that struck China at that time.
When the condition of the county went back to normal, Liu started his JD.com online company. Liu was hands-on during the early stage of JD.com. He spent a year delivering products and orders to houses using his electric bike and wearing the red uniform of JD.com.
