Both the companies aim to work in partnership to develop retail infrastructure that can better personalise the shopping experience and reduce friction in a number of markets, including Southeast Asia.

The goal here is to merge JD.com's experience and technology in supply chain and logistics -- in China, it has opened warehouses that use robots rather than workers -- with Google's customer reach, data, and marketing to produce new kinds of online retail, according to TechCrunch.

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JD.com is China's second-largest e-commerce player and is valued at around $60 billion, based on its NASDAQ share price and the firm has partnerships with the likes of Walmart.

It has invested heavily in automated warehouse technology, drones and other "next-generation" retail and logistics.

Google has opened a research lab focused on artificial intelligence (AI) in China even as its search engine and many of its services -- including YouTube -- remain blocked in mainland China.

The search engine giant shut down its Chinese search engine seven years ago after a direct confrontation over Beijing's censorship policies.

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