Carrefour denies selling China operations to Chinese firm

Carrefour Group on Friday denied rumors that it will sell its China operations to a Chinese company.

"All rumors on the sell-off of Carrefour (China) operations are speculation," the European retailer said in a statement.

"Carrefour will pursue its investments and its strong expansion pace in China. It has full confidence in China's market, and will invest and develop in China for the long term," the company said.

The speculation came after the world's second-largest retailer by revenue said it will exit its operations in Singapore and Thailand. Chinese media said Carrefour was likely to sell its mainland businesses to Hong Kong-based China Resources.

The Singaporean market is not the first market that the company has left. In 2005, Carrefour announced the sale of its operations in Japan and Mexico.

In 2006, Carrefour sold its stores in South Korea. In 2009, the company left the Russian market, which experts believed to be a promising one.

In June, Carrefour sold its Greek supermarket business to its local partner and pulled out of the country.

The leading European retailer started its business in China in 1995. It now has around 210 stores in 64 Chinese cities with 58,000 employees.