On June 18, JD.com concluded its annual shopping festival with a transaction volume of around US$24.5 billion. On the same day, the e-commerce platform also announced an investment from Google of $550 million. What does this new alliance mean? Listen to latest episode from TechBuzz China to find out!

TechBuzz China by Pandaily is a weekly technology podcast focused on giving you a peek into what’s buzzing within the tech community in China. It is co-hosted by Ying-Ying Lu and Rui Ma, who are both seasoned China watchers with years of experience working in the technology space in China. They uncover and contextualize unique insights, perspectives, and takeaways on headline tech news that don’t always make it into English language coverage.

This week on TechBuzz China, Ying-Ying and Rui gives a thorough breakdown of China’s second largest e-commerce platform, from its history and recent ventures abroad, to the couple behind the behemoth with celebrity statuses akin to Amal and George Clooney.

Why did Google choose to work with JD.com who is in Team Tencent instead of Alibaba? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the two e-commerce platforms?

As always, you can find these stories and more at pandaily.com. Let us know what you think of the show by leaving us an iTunes review, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter at @techbuzzchina and to like our Facebook page!