By now, more than half of the world's 50 largest retailers have entered the Chinese market. Domestic companies are increasing their production capacities as more and more overseas investors focus on China.
A spokesman for the State Economic and Trade Commission, Cao Derong, revealed that overseas companies have invested more than US$3 billion in China over the past 10 years. The largest retailers which have launched businesses in China include Carrefour, Metro and Wal-Mart.
“As the production capabilities and standards of the Chinese industries improve, an increasing number of multinational companies expected to expand their businesses in the country. Complementing these developments, Chinese companies can look forward to an increase in overseas exports by making use of multinational sales networks,” said Cao.
In April this year Carrefour, a major French retailer, selected 34 department stores and daily consumer goods companies in China to become part of its global cooperative arrangement. OBI Group, a world renowned building material and furniture vendor, has signed agreements with five domestic manufacturing companies and directed its two new business outlets in Russia to purchase their inventories from China.
Consistent with China's WTO commitments, the country will gradually open its retail and wholesale services over the next two to five years. Currently, most of the foreign capital flowing into China has focused on bigger businesses such as large supermarkets, warehouse-style supermarkets and department stores.
“The introduction of foreign investment into China has advanced the modernization of domestic companies,” Cao said. China would speed up research into the forms of administration to be taken for foreign-funded enterprises.
(china.org.cn by staff reporter Wu Nanlan, September 21, 2002)
