Pinduoduo's revenue up 123% in Q3

SHANGHAI - China's online group discounter Pinduoduo Inc has reported a soaring 123-percent year-on-year revenue growth to 7.51 billion yuan ($1.07 billion) in the third quarter ended Sept 30.

The e-commerce platform's gross merchandise volume in the 12-month period ended Sept 30 increased by 144 percent year-on-year to 840.2 billion yuan.

Its monthly active users expanded by 85 percent to 429.6 million in the third quarter, with active buyers amounting to 536.3 million as of Sept 30.

"We continued to invest in our users throughout the third quarter, and stepped up our marketing from the second half of September for the launch of our anniversary sale," said Huang Zheng, chairman and CEO of Pinduoduo. "This has added to our steady momentum of user growth."

Pinduoduo rolled out a 10 billion yuan subsidy program this year, with more than 23,000 products of over 2,800 domestic and international brands involved, with hopes of boosting their market share.

Founded in 2015, Pinduoduo is known for offering bulk purchase deals with big discounts and enjoys a huge consumer base in rural areas and small cities.