British retail giant Tesco opened its first outlet in Beijing on Friday, heating up the competition between foreign retailers in the 2008 Olympic Games host city.

The Beijing store was named Hymall Tesco, the first time Tesco had added its brand name to the sign of an outlet in China.

As Europe's top retailer and the world's third largest, Tesco bought a 50-percent stake in Hymall, a top grocery brand under the Taiwan-based Ting Hsin International Group, in 2004, and increased its stake to 90 percent last December.

The company has 45 Hymall stores in China, all of which will change their signs to Hymall Tesco, the Beijing Business Today reported on Friday.

Staff at Hymall's Shanghai headquarters and management at the Beijing Tesco declined to comment on the first day's trading on Friday.

Insiders say the new outlet will face heavy pressure from foreign rivals, scrambling for a market share in the capital, where the Olympic Games is expected to bring huge business opportunities.

Located on the eastern side of Beijing's Fourth Ring Road, the Tesco outlet is in direct competition with the nearby French retailer Carrefour, Germany-based Metro and U.S. giant Wal-Mart, as well as local retailer Jingkelong.

Tesco plans to open more stores in Beijing in the near future, according to the newspaper.

Meanwhile, Tesco's rivals are planning to expand their presence in the country.

Carrefour plans to open 20 new branches in China this year, with 92 already in operation by the end of 2006.

Wal-Mart has 73 stores in China, and plans to open another 50 stores this year.

Source: Xinhua