A man plays the Xbox One at the Game Developer Conference in the US. Photo: IC

 Jd.com, China's second-largest e-commerce company by market share, on Monday started to accept pre-orders for Microsoft Corp's Xbox One game console in China.

The pre-orders will be taken via Internet service giant Tencent Holdings' messaging services Mobile QQ and WeChat, the company said in a statement e-mailed to the Global Times on Monday.

Tencent has a 17.6 percent stake in jd.com, Reuters reported on Monday.

Consumers need to pay a deposit of 499 yuan ($80.64) to make the pre-orders, the statement said.

The game console's price in China is still not yet announced, and it is sold at a price of up to $500 in the US.

The Xbox One will be the first gaming console to be released in the Chinese mainland since the government banned console sales in 2000.

Under an agreement reached in September 2013, Microsoft will produce the game console in partnership with TV set-top box maker BesTV New Media Co in the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone.

Released in November, the Xbox One is competing with Sony Corp's PlayStation 4, which was launched around the same time.

From Thursday, jd.com will accept pre-orders on its official website, its smartphone app and at a digital entertainment event in Shanghai, jd.com said in the statement.

Besides games, consumers could also use the Xbox One to watch videos and surf online.

Jd.com landed on NASDAQ in May, and its main rival Alibaba Group will also get listed on the New York Stock Exchange reportedly as early as late August.

Global Times - Agencies