Gutierrez Joins Wal-Mart China Expansion Celebration

BEIJING—U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos M. Gutierrez today celebrated the 100th Wal-Mart China store approval and the Loudi, China Supercenter store grand opening with China Ministry of Commerce officials and Wal-Mart China CEO Ed Chan. The approval and new store opening illustrate the growing bilateral economic relationship between China and the United States.

“Wal-Mart is an export gateway for American products for Chinese consumers in Beijing and Shanghai—just like in Cleveland or Sacramento. We need to export more to China, and an expanding Wal-Mart helps us do that.” said Gutierrez. “Wal-Mart’s expansion benefits millions of U.S. shareholders, creates valuable jobs in the States and creates new jobs for the Chinese. It is a win-win.”

The store approval marks a major milestone for Wal-Mart China, which opened its first Supercenter in Shenzhen in 1996. Wal-Mart sales of U.S. products in China have doubled over the last two years. During that same period, the company has expanded from 56 stores to 94. This month, Wal-Mart received approval from the Chinese government to open its 100th store in mainland China, while at the same time preparing to open its 95th store in Loudi, Hunan Province. Wal-Mart has total investment of RMB 1.7 billion in China and created more than 42,000 job opportunities along with its expansion. As an outstanding corporate citizen, Wal-Mart participates in various charity activities and community service and it has contributed RMB 280 million in the past decade.

Wal-Mart China is also bringing enormous benefits to the American economy and consumer:

• Increasing U.S. exports to China by importing over 6,600 products from the U.S. for sale in its China stores;
• Revolutionizing the Chinese retail sector by modernizing Chinese supply chains and distribution systems, thereby creating an “Export Gateway” for U.S. companies to tap deep into the newly emerging Chinese consumer market with high quality U.S. products and services;
• Spreading respect for intellectual property rights across China’s corporate sector by insisting all of its products comply with IPR laws;
• Bringing higher food and product safety standards to China by working closely with its suppliers to ensure that all food and products exported to the U.S. meet the highest safety standards.
• Roughly 37 percent of Wal-Mart stock is owne.d by institutional investors (public pension funds, labor funds, asset managers, foundations, etc.).

Wal-Mart’s global expansion benefits millions of U.S. shareholders, creates valuable jobs in the areas of information technology, human resources, international tax, corporate affairs, logistics, real estate, international corporate and strategy that support our international operations.