Suning Appliance Group commences advance payment of RMB 10 billion of bonds

Suning Appliance Group Co. Ltd ("Suning.com", 002024.SZ), China's leading O2O smart retailer, announced that it will commence payment of the bond principal and last annual interest for 15 Suning 01 bonds on December 16, 2020.

On December 11, 2020, the company transferred the full principal and interest due and payable to the settlement account of the Shanghai Branch of China Securities Depository and Clearing Co., Ltd, to protect and guarantee the on-time payment of over RMB 10 billion (US $1.5 billion) of bonds.

Amidst the ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020, Suning has fully leveraged the strengths of its smart retail solution and, as a result, both its online and offline channels continue to maintain a fast growth trajectory. In particular, Suning Retail Cloud, the Group's innovative new retail program which leverages Suning's retail capabilities such as supply chains, logistics, warehousing to empower retail startups, small enterprises and individuals in small cities and towns, has closed the gap in the market and established a significant advantage in a relatively short period of time. From January to November of this year, Suning Retail Cloud opened more than 2,700 new stores, which helped bring a 90% year-on-year increase in overall sales revenue.

The digital transformation of Suning Carrefour has also paid off in improved supply chain synergies, which in turn has enabled Suning's Full-Scenario Retail arm to vigorously develop online services such as home delivery, off-premise sales and social marketing.

Analysts point out that these changes come as China prepares to take a major strategic shift in its approach to economic and social development with its 14th Five-Year Plan. The bold new development framework emphasizes domestic circulation as well as dual circulation to global and international markets, which in turn brings about historical opportunities for China's retail industry.

Amidst this context, Suning has fully embraced the digital transformations and experiences brought about by the past decade, while preparing for the next ten years. Looking forward, the company will continue to strengthen its retail business, further develop its new ten-year strategic positioning, enhance its position as a retail service provider, fully digitize the company's resources and establish more social connections. Through this, Suning hopes to empower a broad range of small and medium retail businesses to transform and upgrade their operations in order to open up new market opportunities.