China's Tongrentang to open more overseas stores

BEIJING -- Tongrentang Co, the largest producer of traditional Chinese medicine, said it would open more drug stores outside China over the coming few years.

The company, headquartered in Beijing, said it expects to have 100 overseas drug stores by 2015. The company currently has 69 stores overseas, according to a forum held Wednesday by Tongrentang in the Chinese capital to discuss its overseas expansion.

Tongrentang, a household name in China, was founded in 1669 and was once designated as the imperial family's medicine provider.

It has 18 overseas subsidiaries and joint ventures in 16 countries and regions.

The company said at the forum that it has teamed up with overseas Confucius Institutes, which is expected to help the company promote the Tongrentang brand.

Tongrentang was widely criticized last year after one of its franchised stores in Beijing allegedly tricked foreigners brought in by travel guides to buy unnecessary and overpriced medicine.

Later Tongrentang announced that it would no longer operate franchised outlets as weak management and quality control issues in those stores could damage the brand's reputation.