Japanese supermarket operator Maruetsu is to open its first overseas store – in China.

Maruetsu says it will open a 2000 sqm premium supermarket store ‘Lincos’ in Wuxi in Jiangsu Province on September 30 that will offer more than 20,000 products including fresh produce and processed foods.

The Wuxi store is the first of the more than 100 planned for the nation through a joint venture with Chinese company Suning.

The move is part of its goal to offset stagnation in population-declining Japan, it says.

Making its start in 1945 as a retailer of fresh fish, Maruetsu has grown into a supermarket today operating more than 270 Maruetsu, Maruetsu petit, Lincos and Uoetsu stores across Tokyo Metropolitan area.