Located in the western Shijingshan district, roughly 10 km from downtown Beijing, the new shop attracted thousands of curious residents on its first day and the parking lot with capacity of over 1,000 vehicles was almost full.

"We, of course, wanted to come have a look because it's Wal-Mart," people gathering around the store told Xinhua.

Tom Mclaughlin, vice president of the Sam's Club of Wal-Mart China Co., Ltd, said Sam's will provide local consumers with quality products at considerably low member-only prices.

The store named after retail giant Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart, is a warehouse shopping club with a membership system. It offers exceptional value on famous-brand merchandise at member-only prices for both business and personal use.

Even though most Beijing residents don't have the concept of a membership-based store, they do know the shop offers good products with low prices. The aisles were full of customers and people lined up in front of the reception desk for a membership application.

Since the first Sam's Club opened in the United States in 1983, it has opened over 500 chain stores across the world. In China, the first Sam's opened in Shenzhen on Aug. 12, 1996 and Wal-Mart plans to set up five in Beijing.

(Xinhua News Agency July 11, 2003)