Walmart to open 30 new stores in China

GUANGZHOU - Walmart, the world's largest retailer, will open 30 new stores in China in 2016, Walmart China president and CEO Sean Clark said Thursday.

Besides the 30 new stores, Walmart will upgrade 60 existing stores and expand its logistics and distribution centers. It will also introduce a cross-border e-commerce service in 2016, according to Clark.

Walmart will launch its first community shopping center in China in 2016. The center, in Zhuhai city, Guangdong province, will be wholly designed, constructed and managed by Walmart, he said.

The 100,000-square-meter Zhuhai Mall will cost 600 million yuan ($92 million), according to earlier media reports.

Walmart entered the Chinese mainland in 1996 and had 433 outlets in 169 cities across the country by the end of 2015.