The ranking list of the 35 major cities’ chain store economies in 2010 was announced on Dec 29. Qingdao, once again, made the top 10. This year, the city has brought in a great number of well-known chain store enterprises, such as Wal-Mart and QinDaoTong. Experts say the favorable policy environment and big transportation projects, such as trans-sea bridges, submarine tunnels and subways are sending the development of Qingdao through the roof.

Two chain store companies were established in Qingdao this year

The ranking was issued at the 6th China Chain Store Economic Forum, and the other cities on the top 10 list are Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Tianjin, Chengdu and Wuhan. The ranking was based on the infrastructure, business facility, R&D capacity, and professional and government services. The evaluation divides the development of chain store economics into four levels. The first level consists of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, and Qingdao is on the second level, along with other cities like Hangzhou, Nanjing and Tianjin.

In August, the Wal-Mart (Qingdao) Department Store officially set foot in the Laoshan zone. It is the first independent legal entity ever established by Wal-Mart in Qingdao. In addition, it will build one or two SAM’s clubs and a few supermarkets in the city. Wal-Mart is just one of the many giants to come to Qingdao for development. The Qindaotong Card Company, whose annual revenue stands at 500 million yuan, was also established in the southern district of the city at the beginning of this year.

By 2012, Qingdao will introduce 2-3 regional chain stores or agencies of multinational companies and 6-8 branches of large domestic enterprises.

By Yang Feiyue