Largest Listed Commercial Company Formed in ShanghaiShanghai Friendship Overseas Chinese Incorporated Co., Ltd. has become China's largest listed commercial company after reorganizing its assets.The company, listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in 1994, currently has a network of 760 commercial establishments across China, covering a total space of 490,000 square meters. With a cost of 385 million yuan (46.4 million U.S. dollars), the company recently bought the Lianhua Supermarket, China's leading supermarket, and Fuxingdao Commodity Circulation Base, one of the oldest commercial storage bases in Shanghai. Lianhua has a total of 734 chain stores nationwide and its sales volume was ranked the first among supermarkets in China for three years. The sales volume of the Lianhua was 730 million yuan in 1999, and reached 550 million yuan in the first half of this year. It is predicted that the number of Linahua's chain stores will increase to 1,800 by 2002, with its sales volume up to 18 billion yuan. Business experts say there is little room for the development of the retail trade, therefore department stores will face more difficulties and risks. The large-scale assets reorganization of Shanghai Friendship Overseas Chinese Incorporated Co., Ltd. is a successful experiment in the restructuring of China's commercial businesses and is of great importance to the reform of state-owned commercial firms, experts said. |
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