[EpochTimesDecember92021](Epoch Times reporter Li Jing comprehensive report) The world‘s largest retailer Walmart recently closed four Chinese stores. In addition, its “flagship store” in the core business district of Shanghai has also been closed. Will be closed. According to statistics, Wal-Mart has closed 80 stores in mainland China within four years. Some scholars believe that the political environment of the CCP is one of the reasons for the withdrawal of foreign businessmen.
On December 7, Wal-Mart closed four mainland stores. The four stores are Shenzhen Honghu Store, Wuxi Taihu Store, Chongqing Beicheng Tianjie Store, and Taiyuan Sanqiang Road Branch. The above-mentioned four stores have successively issued “closure announcements.”
Among them, Wal-Mart Shenzhen Honghu Store was opened in 1996, and it was Wal-Mart’s first store in mainland China.
Previously, on December 3, Wal-Mart China issued an announcement stating that Wal-Mart’s Wujiaochang store in Shanghai’s core business district will be closed on December 10. This store is Wal-Mart’s second store in Shanghai. It officially settled in Wujiaochang Wanda Commercial Plaza in 2006 and has been in business for 15 years.
According to Lu Media, since entering the Chinese market in 1996, the American multinational retailer Wal-Mart has been a role model for Chinese retail companies. In the Chinese market, it has an expansion record of adding more than 40 stores every year. However, since 2014, Walmart China’s revenue growth rate has never exceeded double digits.
Walmart China closes 32 stores this year
Wal-Mart China’s net sales in fiscal year 2019 and fiscal year 2020 are both declining. In the first nine months of fiscal 2021, Wal-Mart China’s sales of US$8.735 billion accounted for only 2.16% of Wal-Mart’s international sales.
In the financial report for the first quarter of fiscal year 2022, Wal-Mart’s international sales have fallen sharply, and Wal-Mart China’s operating data will no longer be disclosed.
According to a weekly report in “Finance World“, from 2016 to 2020, Wal-Mart closed 80 stores in mainland China in four years.
As of now, Wal-Mart has closed 32 hypermarkets in mainland China in 2021.
According to the report, Wal-Mart explained the reason for closing the store as the lease term has expired. However, the industry’s point of view is that, on the one hand, costs such as rent and labor continue to rise; on the other hand, the rise of home-to-home businesses such as e-commerce and community group purchases has caused traditional stores led by Wal-Mart to lose their competitive advantage.
Carrefour China’s business is bleak, Auchan has withdrawn from the Chinese market
In addition to Wal-Mart, many multinational retailers, such as Carrefour and Auchan Group, also have poor operations in China.
Since the beginning of this year, there have been more and more news about Carrefour’s “closed business“. According to a report by Jiemian News on the 5th, Carrefour had closed 14 stores in the first two months of this year alone.
Carrefour is the first large French retail group to enter the mainland. It opened its first shopping mall in mainland China in 1995. By 2010, the number of stores had reached 249. In 2019, Carrefour China was acquired by Suning for a price of 4.8 billion yuan. However, after Suning took over, Carrefour China’s operating conditions have not been effectively changed.
Auchan Group (Auchan), France’s second largest retailer, entered the Chinese market in 1997. In October 2020, Auchan transferred all shares of its mainland China business to Alibaba Group. In June of this year, Auchan Supermarket completely withdrew from the Chinese mainland market. All Auchan stores in the mainland area have been renamed RT-Mart.
In 2019, Takashimaya, a large Japanese department store chain, closed its flagship store in Shanghai and ceased operations in China. Takashimaya plans to expand its business in Southeast Asia.
Economists analyze the reasons for the withdrawal of foreign businessmen
In an interview with Epoch Times, Yu Weixiong, an economist at UCLA Anderson School of Management, analyzed multiple reasons that prompted the withdrawal of foreign businessmen.
He said that international retailers such as Carrefour are more concerned about the prospects of continuing to operate in the future. “First, China’s political environment has become more and more stringent in recent years; With support and no level playing field, international companies are facing great challenges and competition to develop in the Chinese market.”
“Third, the era of high economic growth in China in the past is no longer returning. Affected by China’s high debt, real estate bubbles, and the impact of the Sino-US trade war, economic growth will slow down in the future. As a multinational company, you will feel that China The domestic market and economic growth may not be as good as they expected.” Yu Weixiong said.
Since a large-scale epidemic broke out in Wuhan at the beginning of last year, the Chinese Communist Party has adopted a severe “zero clearing” policy, which has had an impact on the Chinese economy. According to data from the CCP Statistics Bureau, due to the implementation of the strict blockade policy, the total retail sales of consumer goods in China from January to February 2020 fell by 20.5% year-on-year. Goldman Sachs and Nomura Holdings lowered their growth expectations for China in August.
Editor in charge: Li Qiong#
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