The concept is controversial, but business is booming: the Chinese parent company of discount shopping platform Temu posted a 144 percent profit increase in the second quarter.
Shanghai-based PDD Holding reported a net quarterly profit of 32 billion yuan (about four billion euros) on Monday, as the group increased sales by 86 percent to 97 billion yuan compared with the same period last year.
PDD owns the mail order company Pinduoduo, which is very successful in China. Temu is the counterpart that operates outside China. The platform tempts with extreme bargains, but is repeatedly criticized for the poor quality, non-receipt deliveries and, last but not least, the catastrophic consequences for the climate and the environment of its products.
PDD founder Colin Huang, a former Google employee in China, is now the country’s richest man. According to the ranking of financial news agency Bloomberg, the 44-year-old has a fortune of 48.6 billion dollars (44.5 billion euros). In the global comparison of the largest assets, he is in 25th place.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
