Wal-Mart plans to boost investment over next three years

Ti Gong

Wal-Mart China said today it will open at least five new Sam's Club stores in Jiangsu Province and to increase investment in the next three years to tap the growing local economy.

The Wal-Mart US giant today signed a memorandum of understanding with the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Commerce on the new stores.

The Sam's Club Nanjing store, the third in the province, opened for trial operation today.

Sam's Club now operates 17 stores in 14 cities and charges a membership fee of 260 yuan (US$39) per year which allows consumers access to the hypermarket's selected goods as well as online shopping.

The US-headquartered retailer aims to have a total of eight Sam's Club stores in Jiangsu by 2020, although it's still a small fraction of Walmart's 800 members-only stores worldwide.

Jiangsu's strong development "drives continuous growth of the consumption market, especially the middle and high-end retail market which has great potential,” Andrew Miles, president of Sam’s Club China, said in a statement. “We attach great importance to this market and are confident on the future development of Jiangsu."

He added that Sam's Club stores in Suzhou and Changzhou have performed excellently since their opening and "we plan to add one Club each in Nantong and Suzhou next year, and our network will cover all important economic cities in Jiangsu in a few years.”

Sam's Club, which has nearly 1.8 million members in China, opened an official marketplace on online shopping site JD.com.