China

Alibaba, China’s largest e-commerce company, last month became a publicly traded technology powerhouse after it launched a blockbuster share offering in New York that drew worldwide attention.

Taiwan’s Ruentex Group and China’s Sinopec Corporation are planning to open 300 convenience stores within Sinopec’s petrol stations.

Today's glitz is tomorrow's so-what? average. Intellivent and anticipatory mall design offers the solution for sustained shopper appeal, argues Jeremy Salmon, Shanghai-based director at global architecture, urbanism and design practice Broadway Malyan.

China’s sports apparel and equipment company, Li Ning, has selected an integrated portfolio of Oracle Retail planning and merchandising solutions to aid its business transformation from manufacturing and wholesale to greater reliance on direct-to-consumer retailing.

General Mills has inaugurated the company’s first innovation, technology and quality centre in China, signalling a commitment to drive greater innovation and investment in one of the company’s largest growth markets.

New Zealand dairy co-operative Fonterra and US healthcare company Abbott are planning to build up to five dairy farms in China to secure domestic supply to meet rising demand for milk in China.

China’s Food and Drug Administration will promote a food safety liability insurance programme in high-risk industries, such as those involving dairy and meat products, to help improve supervision, according to a state media report.

Chinese company Bright Food Group, which owns British cereal maker Weetabix Ltd, said it is seeking acquisitions and can pay as much as 10 billion yuan (US$1.06 billion) for a target.

British luxury leather brand Mulberry is beefing up its digital efforts for the Chinese market.

Tmall has expanded its array of brands with the addition of IT brand Crucial, which offers a wide range of computer memory upgrades (DRAM) and solid state drives (SSDs).

The 15th edition of SIAL China was a record-breaking event on many counts. A total of 2,385 exhibitors (an increase of 11% over 2013) took over 96,200sqm (an increase of 14% over 2013) of space at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre.

UPS has opened a new contract logistics distribution facility in Beijing. It said the 6,500sqm warehouse space located 19km from Beijing International Airport serves growing demand in China and is capable of servicing contract logistics orders with four-hour delivery within the metropolitan Beijing area and next-business-day orders for major cities throughout China.

Even as the Chinese economy slows and conditions become more difficult for foreign retailers, China is still the world’s second top destination for emerging market retail expansion.

Foreign brands are facing a sales squeeze in China as market growth slows and local companies grow and establish their presence.

Hong Kong-based jeweller Chow Tai Fook said its net profit in the year to March 31 rose 32% as sales of gold products in China improved.

Walmart China has announced it will increase its spending on food safety to 300 million yuan (more than US$48.3 million) in 2013, 2014 and 2015, up from a previously announced commitment of 100 million yuan for the same three years.