China's JD.com is reportedly in talks with Thailand's Central Group to launch a joint e-commerce venture in a total investment worth 500 million dollars. If this venture goes through, it would help JD.com expand their overseas presence beyond Indonesia and to compete with rivals like Alibaba and Amazon who are ramping up their presence in Southeast Asia.

After the purchase of online fashion retailer Zalora last year, Central Group is on a quest to dominate Thailand's e-commerce market, which is currently valued at 900 million dollars. The retail conglomerate is an established name and one of the top five business groups in Thailand; it owns several department stores including Robinson, Central Department Store, La Rinascente, Illum and KaDeWe.

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