Wal-Mart to accelerate China expansion

BEIJING: Wal-Mart Stores, the world's largest retailer, plans to add as many as 110 stores over three years in China, while shutting some outlets and remodeling dozens more as it seeks to overhaul its business there.

The company plans to open the new stores from 2014 to 2016 in the world’s second-largest economy, it said on Thursday. The retailer expects to shutter up to 30 under-performing outlets over the next 18 months, Greg Foran, its China chief, said in Beijing.

Wal-Mart is closing less profitable stores and revamping business units in China amid increasing competition from regional rivals Sun Art Retail Group and China Resources Enterprise. The US retailer has been battling setbacks in emerging markets, including the end of a sixyear partnership in India with local billionaire Sunil Mittal.