China shocked over billionarie Liu Qiangdong's arrest in US

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Beijing : The arrest of Liu Qiangdong, the chief executive of JD.com, has shocked Chinese society, which on Monday demanded more information about the alleged sexual misconduct of one of the country's richest men.

"Liu Qiangdong" and related tags were among the most searched on microblogging site Weibo - one of China's most popular social platforms, Efe said quoting the China Daily newspaper.

Around 22,000 of the 27,000 followers of the company's official account shared the statement it issued on the matter saying that Liu was questioned by the police in Minnesota.

The founder of the Asian e-commerce giant was arrested in Minnesota in the United States on Friday for alleged criminal sexual conduct and was released a day later, according to US media reports.

The Minneapolis Police Department told The New York Times daily that, although the magnate has been released, they are treating the case as an active investigation.

Questioned by the media during her regular press briefing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said the "consulate general in Chicago is closely following the relevant situation."

"We are trying to verify that with relevant departments," she added.

The 45-year-old businessman, who has over 4 million followers on Weibo, has been married since 2015 to 25-year-old internet celebrity Zhang Zetian, with whom he has a daughter.

JD.com, which is listed on Nasdaq New York, is considered the Chinese rival of the US e-commerce site, Amazon, and is the second biggest e-commerce company in China, after the Alibaba Group.