They welcome big, efficient operators, whether foreign (such as the two Carrefours, both mobbed) or Japanese (for example, the upstart Uniqlo chain that imports from China such items as fleece jackets, which it sells for $11).
Here in Beijing, which has nine Carrefour stores, clerks said the crowds were noticeably thinner, especially for a holiday.
During our field study in Kunming we visited a few internationally owned 'mega supermarkets.' In the summer of 2011, there were three Wal-Mart and six Carrefour mega stores in the city.
In each of the past five years Carrefour has lost market share to Auchan and Leclerc, its two big domestic rivals, and to deep-discounters such as Germany's Aldi.
After less than six years, Carrefour is already the third-largest retailer in China, and Wal-Mart the ninth-largest.
Revenues in fiscal 2017 were €88.2 billion ($100.5 billion) for Carrefour, and £49.8 billion ($63.7 billion) for Tesco, a combined total of $164.2 billion.
In mid-January he canned four of the nine members of Carrefour's domestic hypermarket executive committee.
He remains free while he appeals against the decision in the Cirio trial.Supermarket sweeps stakesThe dispute intensified between Casino and Carrefour, two French retailers, over the latter's proposed venture for Pão de Açúcar (GPA), a fast-growing Brazilian chain.
In 2005, Grupo Comercial Chedraui bought 29 stores in Mexico from Carrefour; three years later the company purchased seven Gigante stores in the American southwest.
Eight buyers at Carrefour, a French supermarket chain, are under investigation for accepting kickbacks from suppliers.
