Foreign Firms Welcomed to Join Beijing CommerceBeijing Mayor Liu Qi Friday invited foreign companies to join the development of the city's commerce, while meeting with Daniel Bernard, head of the Carrefour Group of France, the world's second-largest retailer.The mayor said the city's commercial industry is enjoying a sound development momentum, with the retail sales volume in the first half of the year up 13 percent from a year earlier. However, great efforts still need to be made to reduce the existing gap between Beijing and other international metropolises in this regard, he pointed out. The Beijing municipal government is now considering a commercial development plan for the next five years which would encourage wider opening of the commercial services sector, and foreign companies like Carrefour are welcome to join these efforts. Carrefour has opened over 9,000 stores in 26 countries worldwide, including 23 supermarkets in major Chinese cites, such as Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen. |
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