British fashion brands are set to benefit after Prime Minister Theresa May's official state visit to China this week. The British government's Department of International Trade has signed an agreement with Chinese online giant JD.com to sell British brands and products to its customers, in a deal valued at 2 billion pounds.

May met with JD chairman and chief executive Richard Liu at the residence of the British Ambassador to China where they discussed how UK brands can reach JD.com's 266 million customers.

Richard Burn, director-general of DIT China, said: “Many British brands recognise the huge potential of China’s enormous ecommerce market. JD truly understands what Chinese consumers want and has the resources to help British brands ensure success in the region. We’re looking forward to working with JD to bring more British brands to China in the future.”

Sales of British brands have grown 100 percent on its platform

The number of British brands retailing on the JD.com platform has doubled in the past two years. Sales have followed suit and in 2017 grew 100 percent year-on-year. Fashion brands such as Burberry, Stella McCartney and Alexander McQueen are already popular with Chinese consumers.

According to the Retail Bulletin, JD will launch special campaigns for seasonal products and undertake other activities to give brands more opportunities to reach Chinese consumers. The company will kick off with a 24-hour “Celebrate Britain” sales promotion for UK products this April to introduce the “Best of Britain” to Chinese customers.

“We’re pleased to be working with DIT to make it easier and more convenient for British brands to enter the Chinese market,” said Winston Cheng, president of international at JD.com. He added: “We’ve seen rapid growth in demand for British products from our consumers in recent years, and will look to showcase the ‘Best of Britain’ on our platform even more through this agreement.”

Last June, JD.com partnered with the UK online fashion platform Farfetch to bring more niche brands from around the world to Chinese consumers. In addition, the company sponsored shows at London Fashion Week last autumn and also partnered with the British Fashion Council /Vogue Designer Fashion Fund to help the BFC deepen its engagement with the Chinese market.

Credits: Photo JD.com; source: The Retail Bulletin