The U.S. retail giant Wal-Mart is keeping a close eye on China's booming online commerce market and will consider entering the e-commerce business, said the company's China Senior Business Director Liao Honghui on Tuesday.

Liao made the remarks on the sidelines of the 9th?Transnational Corporation China Forum in Beijing.

“China has a large online population, which is still increasing by a fairly big margin each year. Therefore China's e-commerce market has a bright future ahead,” Liao said. Wal-Mart has started digging into relevant laws and regulations concerning the online commerce business, he said.

Wal-Mart has maintained steady growth since it entered the Chinese market 15 years ago, Liao said. The U.S. retailer opened 49 new stores in China last year, including two Sam's Clubs, the company's membership-only wholesale retail store. Wal-Mart also launched a new type of medium-sized supermarket that mainly targets Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.

Liao refused to comment on recent media reports that Wal-Mart plans to buy a controlling stake in China's biggest business-to-consumer online retailer 360buy.

Last December, Wal-Mart and five other companies agreed to invest US$500 million in 360buy's third round of fund-raising. Recent media reports say that Wal-Mart wants to be more than just one of the many investors and that it may drop the investment plan if it fails to control 360buy.