Chinese ecommerce leaders brush off regulatory risk to continue ‘instant retail’ price war

China’s largest ecommerce platforms show no signs of halting an “instant retail” price war, unusual in its resilience to state criticism, indicating the almost existential importance placed on instant retail as the future of ecommerce.

Their fight in instant retail, where delivery can be as quick as half an hour, risks the wrath of authorities not averse to crackdowns and wary that aggressive price-cutting could entrench deflationary pressure in an economy already under fire from U.S. tariffs and restrictions on tech exports to China.

Alibaba, JD.com…