With the Chinese government pursuing a policy to promote the rapid, healthy and orderly development of the retail industry since 1992, the industry has developed rapidly and is expected to touch 14 per cent by 2010, government figures indicated.
Currently there are six retail formats in China, shopping center, department store, supermarket, convenience store, specialty store and non-store selling. The retail industry has become the field with the highest marketization level after over two decades’ of reform.
There are more than 15 million of the retail networks covering the urban and rural areas. There were 55, 000 large-scale chain retail stores all over China in 2004, up 18 per cent compared to 2003; the operation area increased 26.5 per cent, and the retail turnover rose 30.2 per cent, accounting for 9.6 per cent in the total retail turnover. The sales of retail enterprises in Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Chongqing, Shenzhen exceeded by 20 per cent the total retail turnover.
According to National Bureau of Statistics, the chain retail in China has been in a rapid expansion and development phase, and the growth pace of shops in the second and third-level cities was two to three times of the first-level cities.
Besides, the entry amount of the foreign-funded retail enterprises grew fast, and 1, 027 foreign-funded enterprises were approved by Ministry of Commerce in 2005.
