China’s top retailer Bailian Group is to expand its nationwide store network by almost half to 10,000 by 2010 in order to take on Wal-Mart and Carrefour through sheer force of numbers.
The group, which was born of a merger in 2003 to gain weight against foreign players, saw its flagship unit Shanghai Bailian Group debut on the stock market at the end of November.
Bailian’s chairman Zhang Xinsheng said: "The domestic retail industry has to get bigger and stronger in order to deal with the challenge of foreign operators."
Shanghai (CHN)
