METRO Cash & Carry will open four new stores in China this year, Tino Zeiske, president of METRO Cash & Carry China, told China Business Weekly.

China is a crucial strategic market for foreign wholesalers, and METRO said it will continue to invest, despite the economic downturn.

Unlike retailing giants Carrefour and Wal-Mart, German giant METRO is focusing on the Chinese business-to-business wholesale market.

METRO Cash & Carry generates about 80 percent of its turnover outside of Germany, and considers China one of its faster growing markets.

METRO China last year reached a double-digit growth rate of 15 percent and, achieving its biggest earning improvement since its market entry in 1996.

METRO will open its four new wholesale stores this year in Kunshan and Changshu in Jiangsu province, and in Cixi and Hangzhou in Zhejiang province.

The new stores will expand the company's network to 42 wholesale stores in the country.

The company cited a booming economy in each of the four locations selected for the new stores.

For instance, the GDP of Kunshan in 2008 was more than 150 billion yuan, with GDP per capita higher than that of Shanghai at 120,000 yuan.

The four new stores also will further strengthen the existing network of METRO stores in the Yangtze River Delta region.

"China is a crucial strategic market for METRO Cash & Carry, and we will continue to invest and grow in the coming years with our unique business-to-business model," Zeiske said.

Business-to-business

The company's existing 38 stores in China are located in 31 cities, employ about 8,300 people and serve 3 million professional customers.

"Because of its ongoing economic development and its vast customer potential, China is one of the most attractive markets in the world for our business-to-business wholesale concept," Zeiske said.

METRO defines its wholesale strategy by its customer base. Only professional customers who are registered and carry special cards are allowed to shop at the wholesale stores.

"Professionals serving professionals" is the company's motto.

The core customers are hotels, restaurants and caterers, as well as other companies and institutions and small- and medium-sized retailers.