Sexual assault charges dropped against e-commerce giant's CEO

Liu Qiangdong, the billionaire founder and CEO of Chinese e-commerce giant JD, will not face sexual assault charges in the United States, as prosecutors said they could not prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Industry insiders say Liu's case in the US has a limited impact on the overall performance of the company in the long run but that JD is now facing tougher competition from rivals such as Alibaba. The company's shares lost about 60 percent of their value since early this year as it grappled with the accusations against Liu.

Chen Tao, an analyst at the Beijing-based consultancy Analysys, said as consumers pay more attention to the quality and value of products sold on the e-commerce platform, Liu's incident will not have a direct influence on the daily operation of the company.