JD.com sells fresh produce online

A man walks past an adevertisement for JD.com in Nanjing, capital of East China's Jiangsu province on June 12, 2013.[Zhen Huai / Asianewsphoto]

Chinese e-commerce giant JD announced on Friday that it is cooperating with Asia's biggest agricultural products market — Beijing Xinfadi Farm Produce Market — to sell fresh goods online.

Xinfadi has launched a flagship store on JD.com where Beijing residents can purchase various products including vegetables, fruits and meat. Goods are then delivered to their doorsteps.

In 2012, Xinfadi market moved 13 million metric tons of farm produce worth 44 billion yuan ($7.2 billion). The e-commerce model provides a more direct link between farmers and consumers.

Han Chengxin, general manager of JD.com's food and farm produce department, said the company has achieved remarkable success in its fresh produce business. Its month-on-month growth rate has averaged about 15 percent.

"Farm produce buyers are a group of people we pay a lot of attention to because they are likely to come back and shop online from time to time. That's a big difference compared with electronics purchasers," Han said at a Beijing news conference on Friday.

JD started its farm produce e-commerce business in 2010. As of September, it claimed more than 100 million customers and 200 million daily average page visits.