Bottom line: Amazon's withdrawal from selling domestic goods to local buyers in China was inevitable due to its lack of a standout service and cut-throat competition from Alibaba and the money-losing JD.com.

The e-commerce headlines have been buzzing these last few days with word that global giant Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) is abandoning China, representing the latest setback for a western Internet company in the large market. Amazon has come out with some statements clarifying the matter, in a mo...

Bottom line: A steady stream of layoff and cost-cutting reports around JD.com appear to show it's trying to sharpen its operations to achieve sustained profits starting in the second half of this year. 

Bottom line: Alibaba's interest in Metro's China operations is part of its new retail strategy, while the purchase of a British payments company by its Ant Financial unit could give it a strong toehold in the European payments market.

Bottom line: A US prosecutor's decision not to file rape charges against JD.com's founder may bring short-term relief to the stock, but the case still shows the importance of understanding the unusual role Chinese founders play at their companies.

Bottom line: China's drive to boost imports will benefit the nation's big e-commerce companies with cross-border trade capabilities, though such purchasing will still be a small fraction of their overall volume.

It may be election day in the US, but here in China the focus is decidedly on imports with the staging this week of a massive import-focused expo in Shanghai. This particular event, officially called the China International Import Expo, has big political overtones, which I've looked a...

Bottom line: Alibaba's vague road map in its latest chairman and CEO annual shareholder letter is too far off to be meaningful, but does chart its aspirations to change from its current form to something more like an IT services company.

Bottom line: The detention of JD.com's CEO on sexual misconduct allegations makes for good headline fodder, but is unlikely to have any extra impact on the company's stock that is already under pressure.

Bottom line: Wanda will continue to operate its ffan e-commerce site for another year, following the departure of its CEO, but could quietly end the initiative afterwards due to lack of synergies with its brick-and-mortar shopping malls.

Success evades Wanda in e-commerce

The headlines have been buzzing this week about the departure of the chief executive of the e-commerce unit Wanda Group, the real estate-turned-entertainment giant with a voracious appetite for global a...

Bottom line: A meeting between Jack Ma and Donald Trump is a major coup for Alibaba and bodes well for its US relations, while a privatization plan for its partly owned Intime Retail reflects its spottier record for strategic investments.

Jack Ma scores Donald Trump meeting

E-commerce giant Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) is wasting no time making big headlines in the New Year, starting with a major coup that has seen founder Jack Ma become the first big Chinese business leader to ...