French retailer Carrefour, which this week confirmed its exit from Singapore, says it will not leave China.

Carrefour said the company would continue to expand in China, a strategy backed up by independent analyst Gong Bo of Beijing United Innovation Capital, who described an exit as “unlikely”.

“Other global markets have been greatly affected by the economic crisis, but China just showed a certain level of economic slowdown,” said Bo.

Carrefour, which entered China in 1995, had 206 stores in 64 cities as at April.

Euromonitor International forecasted that the Chinese retail market will be worth US$1.4 trillion this year and the nation is still considered the most attractive international market in the next decade.

On Tuesday Carrefour said it will pull out of Singapore, closing its two stores at Suntec City and Plaza Singapura before the year-end. In 2010, it sold its 42 stores in Thailand to Group Casino, a French company which operates Big C hypermarkets in southeast Asia. 

Carrefour has also recently exited Greece and is likely to leave Poland as it focuses on traditional markets like France and Spain.

Carrefour CEO Georges Plassat said the company will rethink its presence and cut costs in some markets as part of its turnaround plan. The French retailer posted a net loss of €31 million (US$38.7 million) in the six months to June, lower than the previous year’s €249 million (US$311.4 million).

GB