(FILE)

Liu Qiangdong, founder and CEO of Jingdong Mall, one of the major online retailers in China, was strongly criticized for misleading consumers during a recent price war. In response to the criticism, Jingdong Mall apologized on a micro-blog on September 5 with a statement asserting that Jingdong did not fulfill its promise to keep the gross profit ratio of major appliances at zero and keeping the price of major appliances lower than that of its rivals' in the price war. However, the company's apology has been under attack by consumers who accused Liu, the initiator of the war, of trying to gloss over his faults by making the apology through a micro-blog account that has few followers, rather than his own micro-blog which has nearly 2 million followers.

Three Chinese online retailers engaged in a price war starting August 15, with each pledging to sell major appliances for less than their rivals. However, they were accused of increasing prices immediately before launching the price-cutting campaigns. An investigation into the price war launched by the National Development and Reform Commission found that the three rivals lied about the original prices of the goods they sold and failed to fulfill their low-price promises.

Liu, 38, started Jingdong Mall in 2004, which has become China's second-largest online retailer by sales.