Carrefour to Open 30 New China Retail Stores in 2012

While there seem to be a growing number of pessimists regarding China’s economic outlook for the coming year, Carrefour is among the many foreign retailers planning to expand their operations in China during 2012.

According to an anonymous source within the French hypermarket retailers’ China operations, the company is actually accelerating its expansion this year and plans to open 30 new stores before December 31st, 2012. From a story in the 21st Century Business Herald,

Carrefour will open 30 new stores in China this year, up from 20-25 new openings per year in recent years, the report said.

The person said China is the fastest-growing market and holds the most potential for Carrefour, which cut operations globally in 2010 as profitability declined.

Currently, Carrefour has 203 supermarkets in mainland China, according to data compiled by linkshop.com, a domestic retail portal, ranking it second among foreign hypermarket chains in the country.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s biggest retailer by revenue, now has more than 300 China-based stores, and world number three Tesco (UK) currently has 93 supermarkets and 12 convenience stores in China. The UK-retailer has said that it plans to invest more than RMB 19 billion in China from 2011 to 2015.