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(March 31, 2005, Taiyuan) Wal-Mart, the largest retailer in the world, held the grand opening ceremony of its first Supercenter located in Changfeng Street in Taiyuan. Zhang Baoshun, Governor of Shanxi Province, Yun Gongmin, Vice Secretary of Provincial Party Committee of Shanxi and Secretary of Municipal Party Committee of Taiyuan, Joe Hatfield, Senior Vice President of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and President & CEO of Wal-Mart Asia, and Stanley Yu, COO of Wal-Mart China, attended the ceremony.

On the ceremony, the provincial and city government officials extended their sincere welcome to Wal-Mart and expected Wal-Mart’s entry would introduce advanced technology and retailing knowledge to the local retail industry and enhance local manufacture and logistics sectors. Mr. Stanley Yu, COO of Wal-Mart China expressed that over the past nine years Wal-Mart opened 44 stores in 20 cities with the operational philosophy of “Every Day Low Price” and aggressive customer services to gain consumers’ trust. The Supercenter on Changfeng Street, Taiyuan, is marked as the 45th store in the nation and Taiyuan is the 21st city. Wal-Mart’s initial appearance in Taiyuan is anticipated to promote Shanxi and Taiyuan’s economy and expected to gain popularity from local consumers.

On the ceremony, Mr. Shawn Gray, Vice President of Wal-Mart China, on behalf of the company donated RMB 50,000 to Taiyuan Red Cross Association to build Health Stations in Taiyuan to provide local residents with free disease protection.

Wal-Mart Supercenter Taiyuan Changfeng Street Branch is located on the basement level of Hexin Shopping Plaza on Changfeng Street, Xiaodian District, which was the premium shopping district with convenient transportation routes. The Supercenter is about 18,000 square meters in floor space and provides over 18,000 kinds of merchandise in fresh produce, clothing, household electronic appliances, household cleaners, etc.

As a major business format for Wal-Mart’s operation in China, Supercenter aims to provide high quality merchandise at low prices to customers by EDLP. In addition, Supercenter provides top-level one-stop shopping experience through associates’ excellence service and thousands of products to ensure cost and time savings for customers. Wal-Mart offers great promotional valued merchandise at the grand opening and provides a series of entertainment during the opening celebration to show appreciation to customers.

Wal-Mart China opened its first Supercenter and SAM’S CLUB in August 1996 in Shenzhen. Till now, Wal-Mart China opened 44 stores in 20 cities, including Shenzhen, Kunming, Fuzhou, Dalian, Xiamen, Shantou, Dongguan, Harbin, Changchun, Shenyang, Changsha, Beijing, Nanchang, Ji'nan, Qingdao, Tianjin, Nanjing, Nanning, Wuhan and Guiyang. The Taiyuan Changfeng Street Branch is its 45th store in China.

Wal-Mart adheres to the corporate culture of “Respect for the Individual, Service to Our Customers and Strive for Excellence”. Wal-Mart is committed to providing customers with high quality merchandise at low prices and excellent service. In the meantime, Wal-Mart’s direct and indirect procurement in 2004 exceeded over USD 18 billion, which made tremendous contributions to China’s economic and foreign trade development. Wal-Mart also actively contributes in various charitable programs. Since 1997, Wal-Mart’s donations to various charitable organizations have reached RMB 19.39 million in education, disaster relief, etc…

Wal-Mart was the world’s largest retailer. In 2004, Wal-Mart achieved global sales of USD 285.2 billion. It topped the Fortune Global 500 for three consecutive years and the “American’s Most Admired Companies” for two years in a row. It was also named as one of the “Most Admired Companies” and the “Best Companies to Work for” in many countries. Wal-Mart employs 1.5 million associates worldwide and operates over 5000 stores in the United States, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, China, South Korea, Germany and UK.