Amazon to end local 3rd-party sales in China starting July 18

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01:53

Amazon China said Thursday that it plans to close its domestic marketplace business in China by July 18 as part of the adjustment of business focus in the Chinese market.

Shoppers in China will no longer be able to buy goods from their third-party merchants in the country. The company said that it is shifting its focus to offering Chinese mainland consumers overseas products rather than goods from local sellers.

"Over the past few years, we have been evolving our China online retail business to increasingly emphasize cross-border sales, and in return, we've seen a very strong response from Chinese customers," said a statement from Amazon China.

The company said it is working closely with sellers to ensure a smooth transition.

Meanwhile, Amazon said it will keep running its other businesses in China, including the Amazon Global Store, Global Selling and its cloud service platform Amazon Web Services, Kindle e-book devices and content.

Li Yongjian, director of the National Academy of Economic Strategy, said that Amazon's decision will not affect the Chinese e-commerce sector.

Li said that the domestic e-commerce platform occupied over two-thirds of the whole sector, which increased 20 to 30 percent since 2016.

The world's largest online retailer entered China in 2004.