The Group of Hualian Commercial Building Co. Ltd., a well-known Chinese retailer, is expected to draw 11 billion yuan (about US$1.4 billion) of capital from overseas in the next three years to sharpen its competitive edge, the Group's secretary-general Li Keji said Tuesday.

 

The money will be used to renovate and expand Hualian's franchise department stores and their facilities across the country, Li told the Group's 2006 summit meeting held in Beijing.

 

"To build a better platform for development, we will also move the headquarters of Hualian from Tianjin to Beijing," Li said. "We will turn Hualian into the flagship and navigator of China's retailing industry within three years."

 

Hualian was started in north China's port city of Tianjin in 1989 as a national commercial group made up of 16 department stores in 16 coastal cities, such as Dalian, Qinhuangdao, Yantai and Qingdao.

 

Currently, Hualian has a membership of 55 that are distributed in 23 Chinese provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, including Beijing and Shanghai. Its businesses include hotels, supermarkets, tourism, home decoration and real estate.

 

Hualian has an annual sales volume of up to 40 billion yuan (approximately US$5 billion) contributing six per thousand of China's total retail sales, according to Li.

 

(Xinhua News Agency May 10, 2006)