Suning's Tax-free Subsidiary Laox Completed a Fundraising of 8.434 Billion Japanese Yen to Expand China Business and Global E-commerce

NANJING, China, Dec. 5, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- On December 5, Laox, the largest comprehensive tax-free company in Japan, announced its completion to raise funds through targeted additional shares issuance for GRANDA GALAXY, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Suning Appliance Group, and GLOBAL WORKER, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chuben Sangy o Co., Ltd., to 8.434 billion yen, mainly used as working capital for the expansion of the trade business to China and global e-commerce development.

After the fundraising, Laox will further increase its investment in the Chinese market and expand its e-commerce business worldwide. Since entering the Chinese market in 2011, Laox has introduced high-quality Japanese goods and services to China through Suning.com's online and offline platforms.

As the important shareholder of Laox, Suning.com (002024.SZ) believes that Laox will further strengthen its close cooperation with the company and the Suning retail ecosystem in overseas purchase, commodity procurement, marketing and logistics services, thus increasing Suning's international influence and attracting more customers who are looking for better-quality goods.

In recent years, Laox made in depth research on Chinese consumption trends to better serve the market. Relying on Suning's global buyers and big data platforms, Laox partners with suppliers to launch exclusive products for Chinese market.

Fully empowered by the smart retail strategy of Suning, Laox has now developed into a comprehensive platform providing retail trade, catering services, lifestyle experience, and travel service while maintaining tax-free shopping services as its core. By the end of 2018, LAOX had 38 retail stores in the Japanese market, which had attracted nearly 2.5 million shop visitors in the year and achieved annual sales of about 120 billion yen.

About Suning Holdings Group
Founded in 1990, Suning is one of the leading commercial enterprises in China with two public companies in China and Japan. In 2019, Suning Holdings Group ranked as the top three brands among the top 500 non-state owned enterprises in China with annual revenues of RMB 602.5 billion (approximately EURO 77.24 billion) and continued to top the list of Internet retailing category. Adhering to the enterprise mission of "Leading the Ecosystem across Industries by Creating Elite Quality of Life for All", Suning has strengthened and expanded its core business as retail through a corporate ecosystem comprised by multiple vertical industries, including commercial real estate, financial services and sports. Suning.com (002024.SZ), the main subsidiary pioneering in online and offline retailing, has been listed in the Fortune Global 500 for three successive years from 2017 to 2019.

About Laox
Laox has pioneered the Japanese inbound industry since 2009, building up one of the largest networks of general tax-free stores in the country. With safe and excellent products made in Japan and the country's unique hospitality culture and courteous service all highly valued the world over, the Japanese inbound industry has taken root over the recent years.

Laox aims to expand its platforms to introduce Japanese products, culture and services to the world, taking advantage of the expertise and business sense we have nourished over the years and our strong relations with China. We will continue to strive to grow as a global company that works as a bridge between Japan and China, whose importance in the world will only grow.