Wal-Mart Stores, Inc plans to spend US$1 billion to buy a general merchandise chain in China, the Wall Street Journal reported. The deal for Trust-Mart, a Taiwan company, comes after the company exited the German and South Korean markets. The purchase is still pending regulatory approval but, if it gets the green light, it would send Wal-Mart well past its rival Carrefour SA in number of stores in the country. Wal-Mart has 66 stores in China, including 61 hypermarkets and originally planned to add 18-20 stores in the country this year. Through the transaction with Trust Mart, Wal-Mart would initially acquire 31 stores and the rest of the 100 Trust-Mart stores would be transferred over three years.