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(July 28, 2005, Shanghai) Today, the world largest retailer Wal-Mart celebrated the grand opening of its first Shanghai store, Wal-Mart Supercenter Shanghai Nanpu Bridge Branch, located at No. 252-262, North Linyi Road, Pudong New Area. Mr. Kang Huijun, vice leader from Pudong New Area Government attended the ceremony. In addition, attendees from Wal-Mart include Mr. Joe Hatfield, Senior Vice President of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and President & CEO of Wal-Mart Asia, Mr. Stanley Yu, Vice President and COO of Wal-Mart (China) Investment Co., Ltd., and Mr. Rene Mang, Vice President and CAO of Wal-Mart (China) Investment Co., Ltd.

At the ceremony, Mr. Kang Huijun extended his welcome and appreciation to Wal-Mart for its first store in Shanghai. He said, as the No.1 enterprise on the Fortune Global 500 List, Wal-Mart will introduce advanced retail technology and philosophy and boost the development of commodity circulation and manufacture in Shanghai with its grand opening.

Mr. Stanley Yu, Vice President of Wal-Mart China denoted that Wal-Mart had operated 47 outlets in 22 cities since it entered China nine years ago. With its “Every Day Low Prices” operation philosophy and superior customer service, Wal-Mart has obtained the acknowledgement from Chinese customers. Wal-Mart Supercenter Nanpu Bridge Branch is the 48th unit opened in China and the first one in Shanghai. The new store’s appearance in Shanghai is anticipated to win popularity among local consumers and expected to promote local economy as well.

550 associates working in the new store are all local citizens. They have received systematic and professional training in Wal-Mart for 3 months and will provide customers with superior service. Located at No. 252-262, North Linyi Road, Pudong New Area, the new store sells about 20,000 items, including fresh food, apparels, home appliances, cosmetics, etc. Wal-Mart Supercenter Nanpu Bridge Branch has three self-support services featuring optical service, jewelry and one-hour photo service. For instance, the newly introduced self-service digital photo developing machine can develop photos from mobile phones and digital cameras within 11 seconds. Besides, it offers old photo face-lifting service.

Supercenter is a major business format of Wal-Mart in China, which is aimed to provide customers high quality merchandise at low prices by the “Every Day Low Price” principle, excellent shopping experience through Wal-Mart associates’ commitments to aggressive customer service and save them money and time by providing One Stop Shopping experience through almost 20,000 items. As a return to customers’ support, Wal-Mart provided a series of retailtainment events during the grand opening.

Following Wal-Mart tradition in community involvement, Wal-Mart donated RMB 200,000 to Shanghai Charity Foundation, Pudong New Area Branch, in order to sponsor environmental protection activity and various charitable programs in Shanghai. Ms. Chen Nangang, vice chairwoman of CPPCC in Pudong New Area, and chairwoman of Shanghai Charity Foundation, Pudong New Area Branch, will attend the grand opening ceremony and accept the donation on behalf of the Foundation.

Wal-Mart China opened its first Supercenter and SAM’S CLUB in August 1996 in Shenzhen. Till now, Wal-Mart China has opened 47 stores in 22 cities, including Shenzhen, Kunming, Fuzhou, Dalian, Xiamen, Shantou, Dongguan, Harbin, Changchun, Shenyang, Changsha, Beijing, Nanchang, Jinan, Qingdao, Tianjin, Nanjing, Nanning, Wuhan, Guiyang, Taiyuan and Chongqing. Wal-Mart Supercenter Shanghai Nanpu Bridge Branch is the 48th unit opened in China.

Wal-Mart adheres to the corporate culture of “Respect for the Individual, Service to Our Customers and Strive for Excellence”. Wal-Mart’s direct and indirect procurement from China exceeded USD 18 billion in 2004, which made tremendous contribution to China’s economy and foreign trade development. Wal-Mart also actively contributes to various charitable programs. Since 1997, Wal-Mart’s donations to various charitable organizations have reached over RMB 19.94 million.

Wal-Mart is the world’s largest retailer. In 2004, Wal-Mart achieved global sales of USD 285.2 billion. It topped the Fortune Global 500 for four consecutive years and was also named as one of the “Most Admired Companies” and the “Best Companies to Work for” in many countries. Wal-Mart employed more than 1.6 million associates worldwide, operated over 5,000 stores and received nearly 140 million customers weekly in the United States, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, China, South Korea, Germany and UK.