Foreign-funded firms own about 40 percent of large supermarkets -- those with more than 8,000 square meters of floor space -- in many Chinese cities, said Huang Hai, assistant to the minister of Commerce, at a seminar in Shanghai on Tuesday.

The seminar was held to mark the third anniversary of China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The lion's share of Chinese citizens' consumption still rests in daily consumer goods, Huang said. "Large-sized supermarkets, especially foreign-funded ones, therefore still have promising market potential with their advantages in capital, management, purchase and logistics."

Foreign-funded supermarkets will continue to enlarge their share of the Chinese retail market, Huang said, saying that 137 foreign-funded supermarkets had settled in China by the end of October.

"China will continue to honor its WTO commitments and cancel limitation of business zones, commodity quantity and stock right on foreign-funded retailers this December, while opening dealings in key goods such as processed oil and medicines," Huang said.

It is expected that China's retail sales will top 5,000 billion yuan (602 billion US dollars) this year, and the expanding domestic market will offset the effects of booming foreign-funded companies, Huang said.

(Xinhua News Agency December 8, 2004)