Pork company WH Group division Smithfield Foods has signed a tripartite strategic partnership agreement with Chinese retailer JD and Henan Shuanghui Investment and Development to sell its pork products in the country.

As per the deal, JD.com’s fresh food division JD Fresh will be the exclusive online sales platform for the pork, alongside more than ten additional exclusive products on JD.com.

The collaboration is intended to boost Smithfield’s e-commerce business and footprint in the country.

Commenting on the collaboration, Smithfield president and CEO Kenneth Sullivan said: "Through this partnership, Smithfield Foods will take yet another step in developing its e-commerce business and expand its presence in China, as we meet consumers wher they shop.

“Smithfield has a strong food safety platform and we take this even further to deliver products consumers enjoy and feel good about sharing with their families."

"JD.com’s fresh food division JD Fresh will be the exclusive online sales platform for the pork, alongside more than ten additional exclusive products."

The pork products that will be available on the online platform include bone-in cuts, variety meats, and small packaged frozen products.

The agreement will further see the use of JD’s big data insights to aid Smithfield in data analysis, on-shelf goods categorisation, and to study shopping behaviours of consumers.

In addition, the firms intend to work jointly in cold chain logistics, including systems from JD and Shuanghui, to monitor quality and safety of the products.

The partnership is also expected to leverage traceability with transparent and searchable identity information to ensure the quality of the products exported from the US to the country.