The case of Liu Qiangdong, founder of Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com, who was accused of sexual misconduct in the US has gone viral, causing a social media storm home and abroad starting Sept 1.

The tag "Liu Qiangdong" and related tags have topped the most-searched list on Weibo, China's Twitter-like social media platform. Around 22,000 out of the 27,000 followers of "JD spokesperson", an official account, reposted the company's statement on the case. Hundreds of thousands of users also reposted and commented on the case on Facebook and Twitter.

The Chinese Consulate in Chicago is closely following the situation and trying to verify the facts, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters at a daily briefing on Monday.

What's the case?

Jail records from Hennepin County, Minneapolis show a man named Liu Qiangdong, born on March 10, 1973, was arrested in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on suspicion of criminal sexual conduct.

Liu was arrested at 11:32 pm on Aug 31, and released pending investigation at 4:05 pm Sept 1, according to jail records.

According to Minnesota law, the police can only take a person in custody no less than 36 hours before formally filing the charge, and can continue their investigation after release.

According a report from Associated Press, Minnesota law defines five degrees of criminal sexual misconduct, ranging from gross misdemeanors to felonies and covering a broad array of conduct ranging from nonconsensual touching to violent assault with injury. The jail records for Liu don't indicate the degree of the alleged offense.