The British Fashion Council has heralded a new partnership between an initiative it supports and China's largest e-commerce retailer, JD.com, that is aimed at helpingthe United Kingdom’s designers sell their clothes in China.

The e-commerce company, which has 258.3 million customers,recently launched a fashion-specific division, JD Fashion,with the goal of expanding its global fashion presence and bringing more brands to China, which is the world's second-largest consumer and luxury market.

JD Fashion aims to help designers that are part of the BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund enter the Chinese market at a time when consumers in China are increasingly interested in British fashion.

"The Chinese market is extremely important to our designers," said Caroline Rush, the British Fashion Council's chief executive. "This partnership with JD Fashion is very exciting as it will enable us to offer to the BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund expertise on how to best penetrate the Chinese market."

The BFC said JD.com has a reputation for protecting brands against counterfeits, which will ensure designers' creativity is protected.

The partnership will come into effect in January and benefit the winners of the 2018 Vogue Designer Fashion Fund competition.

To mark the launch of the partnership, JD Fashion supported the London Fashion Week shows of 2015 competition winner Mary Katrantzou and Chinese-born designer Zhang Huishan, who is about to opena store in Mayfair.

Ding Xia, president of JD Fashion,expressed her delight at the partnership, which will support top up-and-coming designers.

"We believe strongly in partnering with designers throughout their careers, from helping them get their start in the industry, to entering the Chinese market and building their brands, to protecting their IP," she said. "This marks a starting point for what we expect to be a deep, long-term relationship with the British fashion community."

Known for its focus on providing a luxury shopping experience for its upwardly mobile customers, JD Fashion has made significant improvements in the past year, bringing in dozens of world-class brands and rapidly growing its share of the Chinese luxury market.

Earlier this year, JD.com created what it said was the world's first luxury white glove service, through which online luxury fashion purchases are hand-delivered in electric vehicles by couriers clad in distinctive suits.

The BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund was launched in 2008 and aims to discover new talent and accelerate the development of new British brands. Previous winners include Christopher Kane, Erdem, and Nicholas Kirkwood.