BEIJING: Chinese low-price online retailer Pinduoduo, the owner of the Temu app and Alibaba’s main competitor, almost doubled its net profit in 2023, the group announced today.The Shanghai-based giant, which has made affordable products its speciality since launching in China in 2015, posted a year-on-year net profit jump of 90% in 2023 to 60 billion yuan, according to a statement.

Pinduoduo is now a major competitor to behemoth Alibaba, though its highly successful Temu app is now in the crosshairs of several countries, including France, whose parliament has backed a string of measures against low-cost fast fashion brands.

France’s National Assembly approved moves including a ban on advertising for the cheapest textiles, and an environmental charge slapped on low-cost items.

Temu’s Chinese rival Shein was singled out as a prime example of intensive fashion production.

The European toy industry lobby accuses Temu of failing to comply with safety standards and of marketing products that present a “real risk” to children.

Pinduoduo co-founder and co-CEO Chen Lei said during an earnings call today that the company’s global business was at a relatively early stage and admitted it may face “uncertainties and challenges ahead”.

The company said its net profits more than doubled in the last quarter of 2023, up 146%, and the firm’s annual sales reached 247.6 billion yuan, up 90% year-on-year.

As well as its rise overseas, Pinduoduo is enjoying growing success at home at a time when Chinese consumers are curbing their spending and turning to low-price products, against a backdrop of economic slowdown and high youth unemployment.

That change in behaviour enabled Pinduoduo to briefly overtake Alibaba in terms of market capitalisation in November.