Retail giant Walmart (WMT) has decided to offload all of its shares and end its eight-year partnership with Chinese e-commerce platform JD.com (JD). This move raises questions about the broader implications for China's e-commerce landscape.

KraneShares chief investment officer Brendan Ahern joins Market Domination Overtime to analyze this development.

Ahern notes that domestic consumption in China has been "scarred" by COVID-19 and "the downdraft in real estate prices," which is weighing on China's "domestic consumption story." This adversely impacts major e-commerce players like JD, Alibaba (BABA), and Pinduoduo (PDD), as Ahern describes it as "a tougher space" overall.

Delving deeper into the Walmart-JD partnership, Ahern explains that it had lasted for over eight years. However, he believes Walmart has now established a strong enough footing in China that "they no longer need a partner." Ahern suggests the partnership was even "encroaching on JD's core e-commerce business," both online and offline.

As a result, he does not interpret this move as Walmart trying to withdraw from China's economy. Instead, Ahern views it as Walmart declaring, "we have enough bandwidth to go alone," characterizing the relationship with JD as a "frenemy relationship."

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This post was written by Angel Smith