The US-based retail giant Wal-Mart has opened its first outlet in Beijing, Beijing Youth Daily said. The store is a Sam’s Club in the western suburb of Shijingshan. A company official said that Wal-Mart intends to open another Sam’s Club and three supercentres in Beijing over the next few years at a total cost of US$25m.
Wal-Mart is also planning to set up a procurement office in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, which will handle business now done by an agent in Hong Kong. Last year Wal-Mart directly purchased about US$4bnworth of goods from China, 80 per cent of which came from Guangdong province.