Retail giants form new company to protect turf

Two leading Chinese retailers have created a third company, Dashang International, to better compete in China's retail market which opened to foreign enterprises last December. Shanghai Brilliance, China's leading chain with 2004 sales of RMB114.7 bn (US$14bn), has partnered with the Dashang Group, China's second biggest retailer with 2004 sales of 23.1bn (US$2.8 bn) to expand into North and Northeast China. The new company is targeting RMB50bn in sales by 2010.