The deal targets cross-border SMB financing, improved card acceptance for visitors to China, and joint exploration of agentic AI shopping
Mastercard and JD.com have announced a strategic partnership aimed at building more connected payments infrastructure between China and global markets, with an initial focus on supporting JD.com’s international expansion and improving the experience for inbound visitors to China.
The two companies will jointly develop payment infrastructure to support JD.com’s international business and explore broader use cases in global commerce. A related strand of the partnership targets cross-border supply chain finance, aiming to improve access to financing for small and medium-sized businesses participating in international trade.
On the consumer side, the partnership will expand payment options for international travellers in China, including broader acceptance of international cards and improved checkout, shopping and tax-refund experiences across JD.com’s e-commerce and retail channels. The companies will also explore agentic AI-powered purchasing through Mastercard Agent Pay, alongside expanded co-branded card initiatives.
A third strand focuses on fraud prevention and identity authentication, with both companies committing to deepen cooperation on real-time risk monitoring and intelligent anti-fraud tools.
“This is the natural next phase in our long-standing relationship with JD.com,” said Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach. “Mastercard will continue to be a bridge between China and the world.”
JD.com CEO Sandy Xu said the partnership would help the company “jointly explore next-generation AI-powered commerce and payment experiences powered by advanced technologies.”
The announcement is the third Mastercard release in as many weeks touching on AI-driven commerce, following its Agent Pay for Machines launch and an executive reshuffle that consolidated stablecoin, agentic and core payments product strategy under a single leader. The JD.com partnership extends that agentic payments push into one of the world’s largest e-commerce markets.