PDD Holdings sets up biz entity in S. Korea for Temu’s expansion

SEOUL, Chinese e-commerce company PDD Holdings said Tuesday it has set up a business entity in South Korea to help its online marketplace Temu expand into the local online shopping market, which is dominated by Coupang Corp. PDD Holdings established Whaleco Korea LLC initially with a capital of 100 million won (US$74,000) in Jongno, central Seoul, according to its public relations agency in Seoul. "We plan for this company to gradually take on local functions, including collaborating with local service providers (or local partner companies)," PDD Holdings said in a statement. The company will also be able to help effectively respond to complaints filed against products purchased from the Temu platform, a company spokesperson said over the phone. Complaints involving Chinese e-commerce companies, including Alibaba Group's e-commerce retail platform AliExpress, have risen sharply as they are aggressively marketing their products to gain a share in the Korean market. Major complaints are about product qual ity, late or missed deliveries, misdeliveries, lack of products, no reflection of order cancellations following delivery delays, and lack of tracking information on the delivery path and time. PDD Holdings entered the Korean market with the Temu platform in July last year after advancing to the United States, Europe and Asia since September 2022. Alibaba set up its Korean entity, AliExpress Korea, in August last year. Source: Yonhap News Agency