ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses international retailers in China with stories of success and setbacks. It extends beyond the points of entry to consider the subsequent development of the foreign operations. The chapter examines the process and direction of market penetration and the performance of the international retailers, and then compares their business models and corporate strategies. Most Southeast Asian retailers mimic the Western retailers by using the hypermarket as the leading format to penetrate the China market. For international retailers seeking foreign markets for expansion, China was perhaps the most challenging. Before its admission to the World Trade Organization (WTO), China retained a great wall of barriers to the entry and expansion of international retailers. The fact that they are able to expand with impressive results proves once again that by far the ccompetes better than other formats in China.
