Carrefour rebuffs attack by rivals over failure to re-register outlets

An official newspaper yesterday attacked French retail giant Carrefour, claiming it had not re-registered its businesses in China as ordered by the State Economic and Trade Commission (SETC), but the company said it had received no such instructions.

The Economic Information Daily said that last November the SETC ordered foreign investors in the retail sector to make additional registration for their businesses, because 273 of more than 300 foreign-invested retail outlets in China were illegal.

Foreign investment in this retail sector has grown far faster than the central Government intended in 1992, when it first opened the sector.

According to the SETC, only six cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin, and five special economic zones are open to such investment.

But cities and provinces have encouraged foreign firms to invest, leading to the proliferation of stores, most of them without approval of the government.

Carrefour has 28 outlets nationwide, with sales last year of eight billion yuan (about HK$7.4 billion), up from six billion in 1999, ranking it among the top three retailers in China.

The newspaper said that following the SETC order other foreign firms had made the necessary applications, with WalMart receiving approval to open 10 more stores in Shenyang, Guangzhou, Kunming and Dalian and Makro gaining approval to open eight stores in Shanghai.