China’s largest ag platform, Pinduoduo, just raked in its first-ever profit. While they’re ringing the cash register, the company is donating the “cha-ching” for ag development.
Pinduoduo has pledged to donate the $2 billion yuan ($309M) Q2 operating profit and all future earnings up to 10 billion yuan ($1.5B) to the development of ag as part of their “10 Billion Agriculture Initiative.” The initiative will target critical needs in ag and rural areas.
Soundbite: “Agriculture has long been at the core of Pinduoduo’s corporate mission and [the Initiative allows] us to deepen our support for agricultural modernization and rural vitalization,” said chairman and CEO Lei Chen.
Backstory: Pinduoduo is an online platform that connects farmers and retailers across China. It’s one of the country’s big three shopping sites – along with Alibaba and JD.com.
Zoom out: China’s online retailers have been pressured to find new growth opportunities after Xi Jinping’s government cracked down on monopolistic practices and renewed scrutiny on data security and online content.
Calls for tech companies to give back and share wealth became…well, very loud. Pinduoduo reacted with a focus on community group buying, agriculture, and infrastructure.