Seven foreign retail chains will expand into Beijing next year, after operating for several years in Shanghai, the official China Daily said yesterday.
The retailers are the British-based B&Q, Germany's OBI, Leroy Merlin and Auchan of France, US-based Seven Eleven and Wal-Mart and Spain's Discount, the daily said, citing officials from the Beijing Commerce and Trade Committee.
Some joint venture retailers including Ikea, Carrefour and Ito Yokada will expand their operations in the Chinese capital, the daily said, quoting a city trade committee official Yang Xinjing.
Rapid economic growth, the approach of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and China's accession to the WTO were the reasons for the surge in interest, the daily said.
There were 17 retail joint ventures in the capital in October, the China Daily said, adding that the total retail sales of 15 of them reached 7.72 billion yuan (US$930 million) last year, making up 4.8 percent of Beijing's total.
Meanwhile, the daily also said China will promote more chain outlets in the backward central and western regions over the next three years.
The State Economic and Trade Commission's plan envisages 100,000 chain stores by end 2005, with total sales of 700 million yuan, up from 21,000 stores with 155 billion yuan in 2000.
"China will open the chain store field wider to foreign investors, especially in the central and western regions," the daily said.
BACK IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD: The planned transit by the ‘Baden-Wuerttemberg’ and the ‘Frankfurt am Main’ would be the German Navy’s first passage since 2002 Two German warships are set to pass through the Taiwan Strait in the middle of this month, becoming the first German naval vessels to do so in 22 years, Der Spiegel reported on Saturday. Reuters last month reported that the warships, the frigate Baden-Wuerttemberg and the replenishment ship Frankfurt am Main, were awaiting orders from Berlin to sail the Strait, prompting a rebuke to Germany from Beijing. Der Spiegel cited unspecified sources as saying Beijing would not be formally notified of the German ships’ passage to emphasize that Berlin views the trip as normal. The German Federal Ministry of Defense declined to comment. While
‘UPHOLDING PEACE’: Taiwan’s foreign minister thanked the US Congress for using a ‘creative and effective way’ to deter Chinese military aggression toward the nation The US House of Representatives on Monday passed the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act, aimed at deterring Chinese aggression toward Taiwan by threatening to publish information about Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials’ “illicit” financial assets if Beijing were to attack. The act would also “restrict financial services for certain immediate family of such officials,” the text of the legislation says. The bill was introduced in January last year by US representatives French Hill and Brad Sherman. After remarks from several members, it passed unanimously. “If China chooses to attack the free people of Taiwan, [the bill] requires the Treasury secretary to publish the illicit
A senior US military official yesterday warned his Chinese counterpart against Beijing’s “dangerous” moves in the South China Sea during the first talks of their kind between the commanders. Washington and Beijing remain at odds on issues from trade to the status of Taiwan and China’s increasingly assertive approach in disputed maritime regions, but they have sought to re-establish regular military-to-military talks in a bid to prevent flashpoint disputes from spinning out of control. Samuel Paparo, commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, and Wu Yanan (吳亞男), head of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command, talked via videoconference. Paparo “underscored the importance
The US House of Representatives yesterday unanimously passed the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act, which aims to disincentivize Chinese aggression toward Taiwan by cutting Chinese leaders and their family members off from the US financial system if Beijing acts against Taiwan. The bipartisan bill, which would also publish the assets of top Chinese leaders, was cosponsored by Republican US Representative French Hill, Democratic US Representative Brad Sherman and seven others. If the US president determines that a threat against Taiwan exists, the bill would require the US Department of the Treasury to report to Congress on funds held by certain members of the
RSS