Ministry of Commerce Cites Top 30 Chain Enterprises

The supermarket has become the main business unit within the retail industry in China.

The Ministry of Commerce has issued a list of the 2003 top 30 chain enterprises, ordered on the basis of sales volume. Shanghai Bailian (Group) Co., Ltd., with a sales volume of 48.52 billion yuan and 4,357 chain stores, ranked first. Others in the top five were the Dalian Dashang Group Co., Ltd., Beijing Gome Electrical Appliances Co., Ltd., Beijing Hualian Group (Holdings) Co., Ltd., and Carrefour (China). Six foreign-funded enterprises also appear on the list. In terms of number of enterprises and market share, China's domestic chain enterprises predominate. The report also indicates that the supermarket is the main retail outlet in China.