French retailer Carrefour will lift the number of its stores across China by 30 this year.

In previous years, Carrefour had kept 20 to 25 store opening annually in China. The retailer’s decision to escalate the number of store openings was made to match the demanding market and fast changing demographic of China.

In 2010, Carrefour shut down stores in Thailand, South Korea, Malaysia, Russia, Singapore, and its outlet in China’s Xi’an City after unprofitable years of operation.

Carrefour now has 203 stores across mainland China while its closest overseas rival Wal-Mart has over 300. It opened its 203th store in Gaizhou last December.

Another international retailer which is expected to fasten its expansion in China is UK retailer Tesco which plans to allot £2 billion for opening new stores from 2011-2015. As of January 2011, it had 12 convenience stores and 93 supermarkets in China.

GB