Global expansion is unlikely to become a trend for Chinese retailers as they will have their hands full developing their own domestic market, according to International Council of Shopping Centres president and chief executive Michael Kercheval.
'We do see Chinese retailers moving out on a one-off basis. But that is for internal business reasons - like diversifying investment or enabling revenue transfers - not to initiate a global plan,' Kercheval said.
While some Chinese retailers had opened stores in Milan or New York, he said, such a move was usually aimed at enhancing their brands with international cachet to generate better sales at home.
'When I ask about international expansion plans, a lot of Chinese retailers ask why they should leave a culture, an economic system and a market they understand, and take on higher risk, when the need and the risk-adjusted return is neither higher nor even there right now?''
China has ranked as the world's second-largest economy after the United States since 2010. It has also been the world's fastest-growing major economy, with consistent growth rates of around 10 per cent over the past 30 years. At its present rate of growth, analysts see China replacing the US as the world's top economy in about a decade.
Unlike Japan, which is a small island nation that had to expand its reach all over the world for oil, raw materials and export markets, China could be insular and continue to grow for decades, Kercheval said.