A JD outlet is pictured in Luoyang, Henan province. [Photo/IC]

Chinese e-commerce giant JD reported its net revenues reached 576.9 billion yuan ($82.9 billion) in 2019, representing a 24.9 percent increase year-on-year, with its annual active customer accounts rising by 18.6 percent to 362 million last year from 305.3 million in 2018.

Its net profit surged 211 percent to 10.7 billion yuan in 2019, compared to 3.5 billion for all of 2018. Research and development expenses increased by 20.4 percent year-on-year to 14.6 billion yuan in 2019.

As of Dec 31, JD had over 270,000 merchants on its online marketplace, and over 220,000 employees, excluding part-timers and interns.

For the fourth quarter of 2019, JD reported net revenues of 170.7 billion yuan, an increase of 26.6 percent from the same period in 2018. Net product revenues increased by 24.5 percent year-on-year in Q4, and net service revenues increased by 43.6 percent compared with the previous year.

"We saw strong customer growth, especially in China's lower-tier cities, driven by innovative marketing, superior product selection and better customer service," Liu Qiangdong, chairman and CEO of JD, said.

It is noteworthy that more than 70 percent of newly-added JD users came from third to sixth-tier cities across the nation in the fourth quarter.

As of the end of 2019, JD had established Asia No 1 mega warehouses in 17 cities across China, forming the largest smart warehouse cluster in Asia. In the fourth quarter, two ultra-large sorting centers began operations in JD's Chengdu and Wuhan Asia No 1 warehouses, each able to handle over 1 million daily orders, greatly enhancing JD Logistics' ability to serve consumers in Southwest and Central China.

Following the coronavirus outbreak, JD reacted swiftly to ensure the smooth transportation and supply of key medical resources and daily necessities nationwide by leveraging its in-house delivery team and its capabilities in areas, including supply chain, logistics infrastructure and related technologies.

"In Hubei, the epicenter of the outbreak, we have been providing medical supplies and facilitating relief organizations to maintain continuous supply to hospitals, in addition to rolling out a suite of innovations across our business to help the country," Liu noted.

"The year 2019 sets a new milestone in our corporate history with record earnings and excellent cash flow on an annual basis as our continued investments in infrastructure and technology began to yield solid financial results," said Sidney Huang, chief financial officer of JD.

"Our vertically integrated e-commerce model, resilient, self-built logistics network and high level of consumer trust allow us to continue serving consumers effectively now and in the long term."