Temu owner Pinduoduo nearly doubles annual profit

Chinese low-price online retailer Pinduoduo, the owner of the Temu app and Alibaba's main competitor, almost doubled its net profit in 2023, the group announced on Wednesday. The Shanghai-based giant, which has made affordable products its speciality since launching in China in 2015, posted a year-on-year net profit jump of 90 percent in 2023 to 60 billion yuan (8.3 billion dollars), according to a statement. Pinduoduo is now a major competitor to behemoth Alibaba, though its highly successful Temu app is now in the crosshairs of several countries, including France, whose parliament has backed a string of measures against low-cost fast fashion brands.