Amazon plans to shut online store in China

The retail retreat comes as Amazon faces tough competition from local rivals Alibaba and JD.com. After 18 July, consumers will not be able to make purchases on Amazon Chinese web portal, Amazon.cn.

Amazon bought Joyo.com, a Chinese retailer, for 75 mil USD in 2004. It rebranded the company as Amazon.cn in 2011. But it has struggled to compete with dominant players JD.com and Alibaba's Tmall marketplace in China.

The firm said it would no longer run the domestic marketplace from July, but Chinese shoppers will still be able to order goods from Amazon's global store.