Overseas retailers are competing fiercely in the Yangtze River Delta, setting up their retail network and grabbing for market shares, a recently issued report on the Delta's retailer industry revealed.

Foreign-funded retailers, such as the French invested Carrefour and Auchan, Metro Cash & Carry from German and Lotus Supercenter under the Charoen Pokphand Group from Thailand, have established a stable status in food, daily necessities and house hold appliances market Presently they're expanding in fields of in sports wear and facilities, and office appliance. Books, audio and video products and drug retailing will be their next target, according to report jointly published by Shanghai commercial information center and the business and trade commissions in the 16 cities in the Yangtze River Delta area.

The Delta region is important to these overseas retailers both in terms of profit and sales network, the report says.

Of the combined sale volume in Carrefour's total 41 supermarkets in China's mainland, the 11 ones in the Yangtze River Delta area contributes near 40 percent in 2003. Eight out of 18 Metro's outlets are in the Delta area, and both Lotus and Auchan locate more than half of their chain stores in the region.

(Shanghai Daily July 13, 2004))