Wal-Mart celebrates 100th store in China

Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE: WMT) hit a milestone in China recently, having received approval to build its 100th store in the world's most populous country. Wal-Mart opened its first Chinese location in 1996 and apparently is seeking to build a retail stronghold in China with this year's significant Trust-Mart partnership. Celebrating the retailer's hundredth Chinese location was U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez and China's Ministry of Commerce Vice Minister Jiang Zengwei.

Ed Chan, CEO of Wal-Mart China, said that "The opening of our new Loudi Store coincides with a special moment in our development in China because it is an example of how we are investing in smaller cities that have traditionally been underserved by organized retailers and where our presence will improve distribution channels for both Chinese and U.S. consumer goods and agricultural products." That's a mouthful, eh?

Wal-Mart will only increase its China location deployment from here, as it reached market saturation in its largest market, the U.S, with sales and locations seeing slower growth domestically. So far, Wal-Mart's entry into China and its partnership with Bharti in India is creating a satiable worldwide market for the world's largest retailer as international sales become an ever-increasing piece of its revenue pie. Now that Wal-Mart imports so many goods from China for its U.S. locations, one has to wonder if newer Wal-Mart China customers will be buying much of the product made in their own backyards.