Tesco to build 3 malls in China

12th Nov 2009 18:30

Tesco is joining forces with a group of Asian investors to build three shopping centres in China.The retailer will form a 50-50 joint venture with the HSBC Nan Fung China Real Estate Fund, Metro Holdings of Singapore and Nan Fung Group of Hong Kong to open malls at Fushan in the north-east of the country and at Anshan and Qinhuangdao in the North.Tesco will invest about £100m in the project according to the reports today, with each of the centres housing a super-sized Tesco supermarket as its key tenant.The UK giant has been relatively slow to build a presence in China say analysts, but this latest expansion may have been encouraged by the growth of its business in Shanghai, where it is rapidly rolling out stores based on the Tesco Express format as well as building hypermarkets.