Alibaba opening more fresh food stores

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd announced on Wednesday the opening of another 30 Hema Xiansheng fresh food supermarkets throughout Beijing this year, as internet giants focus increasingly on the lucrative fresh-food retail sector.

The announcement came right before JD's first fresh food supermarket 7Fresh started its official operation on Thursday, an indication of the increasingly intense competition and rapid expansion of the two e-commerce giants.

With Hema opening in major commercial districts across Beijing including Xizhimen, Guang'anmen and Shuangjing, consumers in major urban areas of Beijing can have their groceries delivered to a location within a radius of three kilometers from the store in 30 minutes.