JD.com Inc. shares fell after the company reported a sharp drop in revenue growth. China’s second-largest online retailer said Thursday revenue rose 7% from October to December, down from 23% growth a year earlier.

It and larger rival Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. have grappled with weak consumption sentiment since the world’s No. 2 economy buckled under the weight of China’s rigid Covid control measures. JD’s US-traded shares slid as much as 9.6% to $42.45 in New York, the lowest since November.

China’s exports and imports continued to decline in the first two months of 2023, clouding the outlook for an economy gradually recovering from the Covid years and waves of infection. Economists expect consumption to be the main driver of GDP this year, but the data showed a slowdown in urbanization and a rise in inequality in 2022, two trends which could slow private spending.

Alibaba had reported a mere 2.1% rise in quarterly revenue in 2022’s final three months, underscoring the economic uncertainty that’s prevailed even after China abolished Covid restrictions in December, Bloomberg reported.

Like Alibaba and Tencent Holdings Ltd., JD faces intensified competition from up-and-comers such as PDD Holdings Inc. and ByteDance Ltd., and has balanced tightened cost controls with targeted measures to shore up its market share. JD is closing its Indonesia and Thailand shopping sites while launching a 10 billion yuan ($1.4 billion) discount program back home, spurring worries of a new wave of competition in Chinese online commerce.

The company expects to control its overall marketing costs, in part by roping in merchants to help control the expense from discounts.

“What we hope to do is to transform our marketing strategy from focusing on big sales to creating an environment of everyday low prices, gradually shifting people’s shopping behavior,” Chief Executive Officer Xu Lei told analysts on a conference call. “These programs will have a limited impact on our margins.”

JD reported sales of 295.4 billion yuan in the period, slightly below the 295.5 billion yuan average of analysts’ projections. JD, which on Thursday declared a $1 billion dividend for shareholders, posted net income of 3 billion yuan, versus a 2.9 billion yuan estimate.

Executives on Thursday affirmed that the company was pulling out of Southeast Asian e-commerce for now, because building a regional operation would require too much investment over a long period. It remains a leading domestic player, along with Alibaba, in logistics. JD said Thursday it sold Class B preferred shares in its supply chain services unit JD Industrials to a group of unidentified investors.

JD will stay focused on lowering costs, increasing efficiency and improving user experience, Xu said.