Pinduoduo increases its focus on R&D, steps up investments in agriculture and agritech industry
SHANGHAI, China, Nov. 26, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Pinduoduo Inc. (NASDAQ: PDD), China’s largest agriculture platform, pledged to deepen its investment in research and development (R&D) and agricultural technology to raise productivity and promote long-term sustainable development.
The company posted 21.5 billion yuan ($3.3 billion) in revenue for the three months ended September, while the number of users who placed orders in the trailing 12-month period rose to 867.3 million.
“We are placing more focus on investments in R&D, away from the previous emphasis on sales and marketing in our first five years,” said Chen Lei, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Pinduoduo. “We want to leverage our strength in technology to deepen our digital inclusion efforts in agriculture, and will allocate all profits from the third quarter to the ’10 Billion Agriculture Initiative’.”
“The increased focus on R&D plays to the strengths of our management, given our training and backgrounds in engineering,” Chen added. He also noted that the company will promote more young leaders to take on more critical roles.
Pinduoduo has made investing in food and agricultural systems a key strategic priority to improve productivity and efficiency, which would benefit consumers, farmers, and society.
The company announced in August that it would allocate profits from the second quarter and any potential future profits to its “10 Billion Agriculture Initiative” which is dedicated to addressing critical needs in the agricultural sector and rural areas.
The Initiative would not be driven by profit or commercial goals, but strive to facilitate the advancement of agritech, promote digital inclusion, and provide agritech talent with greater motivation and a sense of achievement. The Initiative was approved by Pinduoduo’s shareholders at the end of September.
“Technology and talent are key to promoting agricultural modernization, and we are taking a systematic approach to encourage more young talent to consider a career in agriculture,” said Chen.
About Pinduoduo Inc.
Pinduoduo is a mobile-only marketplace that connects millions of agricultural producers with consumers across China. Pinduoduo aims to bring more businesses and people into the digital economy so that local communities can benefit from the increased productivity and convenience through new market opportunities.
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