Europe's biggest building material retailer B&Q announced that it plans to open 13 new branches in China's major cities by the end of 2005.

B&Q China Region President Wei Zhe said more than half of the new branches will be in Beijing and the coastal cities of Shanghai,Guangzhou and Shenzhen. B&Q will also extend its business to Chongqing, Xi'an and Chengdu, to occupy China's vast middle and western markets.

According to China's commitment to the WTO, it will completely open its retail and wholesale businesses to the world market by Dec. 11. By then foreign businesses will be approved to enter allof China's small and medium cities.

"We long for this day," said Wei. He said the branches of B&Q in Beijing and Shanghai have already reached the maximum set by Chinese government.

Once the retail market is fully open, B&Q will quickly scatter its branches to every corner of China. Wei said by 2009, B&Q will possess at least 80 branches in more than 30 cities, four times as many as today.

China has become one of the world biggest building material consumer today, said Wei. However, most of the building material products are now sold by small vendors.

Wei said the sale of chain stores like B&Q will account for 50 to 80 percent of the building material market share in major China's cities in the next three to five years, while it will take up at least half of the market share in middle and small cities.

Statistics show that more than 300 foreign retailers exist in China's market today, and insiders say that they will co-establish the nationwide logistics and purchasing systems by 2008.

Source: Xinhua