China Gives Green Light to Wal-Mart in E-Commerce Deal

China’s regulators have approved a deal allowing U.S. retail giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to gain a majority stake in Chinese e-commerce company Yihaodian, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing a company spokesman.

“The approval paves the way for the U.S. retailer’s expansion online in China,” the paper said.

Wal-Mart currently holds 18 percent in Yihaodian and the deal will allow the world’s biggest retailer to boost its stake in the Chinese e-commerce company to 51 percent.

The financial details of the transaction have not been disclosed.

China currently has about 200 million online shoppers compared with 170 million in the U.S. Online retail sales in China will triple to more than $360 billion by 2015, powered both by growing numbers of Internet users and by greater consumer acceptance of e-commerce, according to a report by The Boston Consulting Group.

 

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