Wal-Mart, CITIC Plan Stores in China

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will team up with CITIC Pacific Co. Ltd. to open hundreds of stores in China over the next five years, the Beijing-backed conglomerate said on Jan. 19.

CITIC Pacific and Wal-Mart will invest billions of yuan (1 yuan=$8.28) to open stores in central China as well as the eastern cities of Shanghai and Nanjing, CITIC Pacific Managing Director Henry Fan told Reuters.

Fan said Wal-Mart will own 65 percent of the venture but not the real estate in China.

Wal-Mart opened its first China outlet in 1996 and now has more than 40 stores in the country, which has a $240 billion retail market, Asia’s largest after Japan.