JD's $2.5 billion bid for Ceconomy, the owner of Europe's MediaMarkt and Saturn chains, has run into regulatory resistance in Austria, with the Chinese e-commerce giant warning that the deal's completion is now "questionable".

JD warned in a statement that the deal is facing review hurdles from Austrian authorities and "whether the transaction can be completed… is questionable".

At the same time, Ceconomy said regulators in Vienna had "refused to engage in a joint solution-finding process," an accusation rejected by the government.

Ceconomy operates more than 1,000 stores across 11 European countries and generates nearly $23 billion in annual revenue, positioning it as one of the continent's largest omnichannel retail platforms.

JD, by contrast, brings a deeply integrated model built on logistics, data and supply chain control, capabilities it is now actively exporting, from its Joybuy marketplace launch across six European markets to its growing large format store footprint.