Suning Holdings Group Ltd, China's largest omni-channel retailer by sales revenue, announced it will add 80,000 jobs in 2019, mainly in retail, modern supply chain and digital areas to support the real economy, said its top executive.

Zhang Jindong, Suning's chairman, said even though many businesses from other sectors confront issues such as operational difficulties, growing labor cost and limited profit space, Suning will deploy more resources to promote the development of sustainable logistics, social employment and staff training this year.

The Nanjing-headquartered group currently has 250,000 employees, including over 60,000 recruited last year, thanks to China's ongoing consumption upgrading and e-commerce boom, diversified service sectors and government's policies to stimulate domestic consumption.

In addition to its a number of business such as Suning Technology, Sport, Media and Entertainment, the company operates over 11,000 smart stores nationwide, with more than 2,000 located in rural areas.

"As China's reform and opening-up policies advance, private companies will gain the confidence and capability to create more economic and social value," said Zhang.

Founded in 1990, Suning is one of the largest commercial companies in China with two public companies in China and Japan. In 2018, the group ranked second among the top 500 non-State owned enterprises in China with annual revenues of $80.85 billion.