Chinese Official Urges Expansion of Competitive Retailers

China will support the expansion of competitive retailers that can contribute to increased domestic consumption, a Ministry of Commerce (MOC) official said Monday.

Vice Commerce Minister Jiang Zengwei said competitive retailers could reduce the cost of logistics and inventory management, which would mean lower retail prices and higher domestic consumption.

Jiang said most domestic retailers were small and inefficient, which pushed up costs.

MOC statistics showed retail chains with sales of more than 100 billion yuan (14.3 billion U.S. dollars) were "very few," with 99 percent of retailers classified as small or medium-sized.

The smaller stores couldn't satisfy growing demand or respond to sharp fluctuations in demand caused by natural disasters and emergencies, said Jiang.

He added that U.S.-based retailer Wal-Mart achieved 2008 sales of 378.7 billion U.S. dollars in China, or 23.9 percent of total retail sales.

Song Ze, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the government should support expansion of competitive retailers through market operations and eliminate policies that hindered their development.

His view was echoed by Ren Xingzhou, director of the market economy research institute of the Development Research Center of the State Council, or cabinet, who said the government should create a sound environment for fair play among large retailers.

Source: CRIEnglish