(Yicai Global) Jan. 19 -- JD.Com’s Hong Kong-listed stock gained after the Chinese e-commerce giant said it had signed a partnership agreement with Canadian counterpart Shopify to help sellers reach foreign customers.

After jumping 3.8 percent earlier today, JD [HKG: 9618] finished 0.9 percent up at HKD281.40 (USD36.11). The stock has gained 2.7 percent so far this year.

JD will allow Shopify’s merchants worldwide to reach its 550 million active consumers in China, while Shopify will help JD promote quality Chinese brands overseas by setting up their own direct-to-consumer channels through Shopify, the Beijing-based firm said in a statement yesterday.

“We believe that the partnership will unlock the huge potential of the Chinese market for brands outside of China,” said JD Worldwide President Daniel Tan. “At the same time, it will increase cross-border commerce by leveraging our global supply chain ability, simplifying what has traditionally been a very complicated process.”

The strategic cooperation deal, the first Shopify has inked with a Chinese company, will enable vendors to cut the 12 months usually required for international brands to start selling in China to only three to four weeks, JD added.

Shopify mainly provides an operating environment for merchants and does not involve itself in e-commerce operations, Pan Helin, executive dean of the Institute of Digital Economy at Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, told Yicai Global.

The deal will be mutually beneficial as Shopify can help JD to quickly establish overseas channels, while JD can introduce Shopify’s individual vendors to the Chinese market, Pan said.

Founded in 2004, Ottawa-based Shopify’s platform had average monthly visitors in excess of 1.1 billion in the second quarter of last year, topping rival Amazon for the first time, according to digital intelligence provider Similarweb.

JD’s New York-listed shares [NASDAQ: JD] closed down 0.4 percent yesterday at USD73.40 each amid a wider market selloff as government bond yields soared to a two-year high. Shopify [NYSE: SHOP] ended 4.4 percent lower at USD1,054.66.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Futura Costaglione