This week, Carrefour SA, the French supermarket giant, unveiled plans to build a major procurement and distribution centre in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong, reports Xinhua News Agency. The procurement centre will be the first for Carrefour in China. Currently, it operates 23 supermarkets in China. According to Xinhua, from this procurement and distribution centre, Carrefour will also procure Chinese products for its worldwide network of stores. Chen Yaodong, vice-president of Carrefour China, said that the company's procurement in China this year is expected to reach the equivalent of $1.5bn. Annual purchases will increase to $3bn worth by 2003. This will go well with the Chinese government, which announced recently it would not take significant punitive action against Carrefour for its disregard of laws requiring centralised approval of new stores.
