Monday 03 September 2018 2:20 pm

JD.com boss returns to China after being put under US arrest for sexual misconduct

The top boss of Chinese retail giant JD.com has been allowed to travel back to China after his arrest in the US on suspicion of criminal sexual misconduct.

Richard Liu was arrested in Minneapolis on Friday evening and released "pending complaint" the following afternoon, according to police records.

JD.com said in a statement today that Liu was released "without any charges and without requirement for bail", and has now returned to work in China after overcoming the "unsubstantiated" claims.

Local police confirmed to Reuters than an investigation into Liu's conduct is still underway, although it was possible for him to leave the US while it continues.

A spokesman for the Minneapolis police department added: "We don't know if there will be charges or not, because we haven't concluded an investigation."

The case was reportedly brought against Liu by a Chinese student at the University of Minnesota where Liu is a student of its doctoral business administration programme, according to sources speaking with the Financial Times.

Liu's police mugshot was the most discussed topic on Chinese social media site Weibo yesterday morning, having been read more than 250m times.

JD.com, which is backed by the likes of Walmart, Google and Tencent, has faltered in and out of profitability this year as it struggled with a second quarter net loss of $334.4m (£259.4m), almost twice the market's estimates. Shares in JD.com will restart trading on the Nasdaq tomorrow due to the weekend's Labour Day holiday.