China’s largest hypermarket operator Sun Art Retail Group is expanding onto the web.

Sun Art Retail Group has established Uitox E-commerce (Shanghai) Co Ltd to sell online.

The grocer’s wholly owned subsidiary Concord Investment (China) Limited is taking a 65 per cent interest in the e-commerce business with the remaining 35 per cent help by Hong Kong company Excellent First Limited.

Uitox has a registered capital of 100 million yuan (US$16.3 million).

According to China Merchants Securities, Sun Art still needs time to explore how to make use of its advantages in traditional retail networks given the fierce competition in the e-commerce industry.

Sun Art Retail Group operates more than 273 hypermarkets under banners RT-Mart and Auchan.