Suning will be the first Chinese retail chain to expand to the autonomous region of Tibet.

After six months of market study, electronics retailer Suning will open its first store in Tibet in Lhasa City on May 25.

Lhasa, known as “roof of the world”, has a population of 560,000. The city’s retail sales totalled 8.8 billion yuan in 2012, of which 430 million were contributed by home appliances market.

However, no retail chain has entered the market before Suning due to factors such as consumer habits and operating costs.

Suning operates 1600 stores in China and overseas.