30 November 2004 – Bentonville (AR): Wal-Mart has announced plans to open at least 11 new stores in China next year in response to the Chinese government easing restrictions on foreign retailers next month.
The retail heavyweight, which currently runs 42 stores in 20 Chinese cities, has said it will be recruiting an average of 500 new staff members for each store.
Current rules that restrict retailers to certain cities and three stores per city will be removed on 11 December under the terms of China’s entry into the WTO.