Walmart to invest $1.2B in its China operations
Global retailer Walmart has been present in China since 1996 and also has a partnership with Chinese ecommerce company JD.com.
Walmart, the leading global retailer, has announced its plan to invest 8 billion yuan or $1.2 billion in China over the next 10 years, the company said on social media.
According to a report in Reuters, the company also stated that it would set up or renovate more than 10 logistics centres in the country.
Walmart entered China in 1996 with the opening of a supercentre and Sam’s Club in Shenzhen. To date, it operates a Global Sourcing Office and stores under a number of formats and banners.
In June 2016, Walmart and JD.com, China’s largest e-commerce company by revenue, announced a strategic alliance to serve consumers across China through a combination of ecommerce and retail.
The latest announcement by Walmart comes following a meeting between United States President Donald Trump and China President Xi Jinping over the weekend in Osaka, Japan.
According to report by Reuters, Walmart has been pushing to integrate its retail network in China with the country’s burgeoning “smart retail” movement as retailers and tech giants such as Alibaba and Tencent have entered into deals to combine online and high street shopping.
Walmart is also a major investor in the India retail market with both offline and online presence. It picked up a majority stake in ecommerce major Flipkart founded by Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal in a deal valued $16 billion in May 2018.
The deal with Flipkart created a benchmark for the startup ecosystem and also pitted Walmart against its fierce rival Amazon in the India market.
Walmart also operates in the wholesale retail space. It owns and operates 24 B2B modern wholesale stores under the brand name of “Best Price”. The company also operates three fulfilment centres in India.
However, the retailer also had a setback in its online commerce business in India as the government revised the guidelines, which had an impact on its operations.
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