Liu founded JD Multimedia as a business-to-consumer single retail store for magneto-optical products in June 1998 and later moved the company into an e-commerce website known as JD.com (also known as Jingdong) in 2013.

[6] Liu is the company's former chief executive officer and now chairman, expanding its e-commerce products from selling consumer electronics to less specialized items.

[6]: 27 In 2007, Liu employed a full-category strategy for JD.com, changing the company's business model from selling consumer electronics to large variety of goods.

[21] Liu raised $1.8 billion with a public listing on the Nasdaq in May the same year, and JD.com became the largest IPO for a Chinese internet company traded in New York.

[24][25][26][27][28] In April 2022, Lei Xu became CEO of JD.com, and Liu stepped into the role of chairman, continuing to focus on the company’s long-term strategies.

[33] In April 2020, Liu and Zhang Zetian announced a donation through the China Charity Federation that included 5 million masks, 50 invasive ventilators and more than 600,000 pieces of protective medical supplies to the UK.

[45] Liu and his wife, Zhang Zetian, returned to his hometown Suqian for the 2015 Spring Festival, gifting over 650 elderly villagers with red envelopes.

They have continued this tradition, sending regular Spring Festival gift packages filled with food, clothing and daily necessities to the villagers.

[54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61] Despite this, three law firms filed class-action lawsuits against JD.com, alleging that the company “failed to disclose pertinent information” about Liu’s arrest.

[63] On April 16, 2019, a student at the University of Minnesota, formally filed a civil lawsuit against Liu Qiangdong, claiming he sexually assaulted her.