HANGZHOU, April 23 -- The world's largest retailer, Walmart Stores, on Wednesday closed an outlet in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, the seventh closure in the Chinese mainland since March.

The store near Zhaohui neighborhood was shut down because of its "unfavorable operating performance", said Li Chengfang, regional public relations director of Walmart China.

"Closing an outlet in China is a tough decision. We tried our very best to avoid the closure," he said.

Greg Foran, president and CEO of Walmart China, said in October that the retailer in the next three years will open 110 outlets securing 20,000 jobs, mainly in medium- and small-sized cities.

He also said it would close 9 percent of its 400 outlets in China based on performance.