Recently, excavators roared in the MODON Oasis industrial zone in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; Dubai Jebel Ali Free Trade Zone, with two logistics parks delivering consecutively; Abu Dhabi Airport Free Trade Zone breaks ground on a smart logistics hub covering over 70000 square meters. JD.com is taking an infrastructure first approach by acquiring land and building warehouses on a large scale in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, building a logistics base around e-commerce fulfillment, cross-border trade, and local supply chains, and integrating the Middle East and North Africa region into the global map of China's supply chain.

Saudi Arabia's three city linkage layout

JD.com has signed a strategic cooperation memorandum with the Saudi Industrial City and Technology Zone Management Bureau MODON, planning to develop over 2 million square meters of industrial logistics assets in Riyadh, Jeddah, and Dammam, with a total investment of approximately 3.75 billion Saudi riyals (approximately 6.7 billion RMB). In July 2026, we signed a contract with the Saudi Ports Authority to acquire the 93000 square meter core plot of Jeddah Islamic Port and invested 700 million riyals to build a comprehensive logistics center including cold storage and dry cargo warehouses; At the end of August, the 50000 square meter smart logistics hub in Oasis Industrial Zone, Jeddah, started construction and is expected to be put into operation in September 2027. JD Logistics has launched its local self operated express delivery service JoyExpress with Riyadh as its regional headquarters, achieving same day and next day delivery in some areas and connecting the entire chain of warehousing and sorting at the end.

UAE dual hub formation

JD.com prioritizes the layout of Dubai's Jebel Ali Free Trade Zone, acquiring two logistics park assets in succession, adjacent to ports and international airports to achieve sea air intermodal transportation. Afterwards, we cooperated with Abu Dhabi Airport to develop a bonded and non bonded integrated smart logistics hub of over 70000 square meters. Dubai and Abu Dhabi formed a dual hub pattern, providing goods distribution to Gulf countries and serving Chinese brands such as consumer electronics, new energy accessories, construction machinery, and fast-moving consumer goods. The efficiency of local order processing is several times higher than that of traditional warehouses, and there are already four projects in place and reserved in the Middle East, forming a complete asset matrix. Keywords: the Belt and Road news network, logistics infrastructure, enterprise going to sea

Dual strategy of logistics going global

JD's Middle East layout carries a dual goal: to support local e-commerce business internally, and to serve as a third-party infrastructure service provider externally, opening up warehousing, cold chain, distribution, and customs clearance services to Chinese overseas enterprises and Middle Eastern merchants, earning infrastructure rent and supply chain service fees. However, long-term investment in heavy assets, geopolitical risks, regional market regulatory differences, and competition from global logistics giants pose real challenges. JD.com is deeply involved in the upgrading of the Middle East supply chain through logistics infrastructure, lowering the threshold for Chinese enterprises to go global in logistics, exporting Chinese supply chain technology and management experience, and exploring a new path for platform based enterprises to move from online to heavy asset infrastructure.Editor/Gao Xue