Wal-Mart Opens First Store in Wuhu

Dec 27, 2005

(December 27, 2005, Wuhu, Anhui) Today, Wal-Mart celebrated the grand opening of its first store in Wuhu, Anhui Province – the Wal-Mart Supercenter Zhongshan Road North Store, located on Xinwu Square. Ms. Wen Haiying, Vice Governor of Anhui Province, Mr Han Jun, Vice Mayor of Wuhu joined Mr. Joe Hatfield, Senior Vice President of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and President & CEO of Wal-Mart Asia and Mr. Stanley Yu, COO of Wal-Mart (China) Investment Co., Ltd. at the opening ceremony.

Following the Company’s tradition of Good Works, Wal-Mart donated RMB 200,000 to Wuhu Environmental Sciences Association for the establishment of 24 green communities in Wuhu as well as public awareness campaigns to promote “green communities and beautiful neighborhood”. Wal-Mart hopes that its effort can help raise people’s sense of environment protection and therefore make contributions to the construction of an environment-friendly city.

At the opening ceremony, government officials expressed their welcome and appreciation for the first Wal-Mart store in Anhui Province. They expect that Wal-Mart will bring along advanced retail expertise and promote the development of logistics and manufacture industry. Mr. Stanley Yu, Vice President & COO of Wal-Mart China said that Wal-Mart has successfully operating 53 outlets in 25 cities since it entered China almost ten years ago. Wal-Mart has become a favorite destination of more and more shoppers thanks to its high quality merchandise at low prices under the philosophy of “Every Day Low Price”. Wuhu store is the 54th store Wal-Mart opened in China and the first one in Anhui Province. Wal-Mart is confident that it will be well received by Wuhu residents and will contribute to Wuhu’s economy.

Located on the second and third level of Wuhu SZITIC Shopping Center on Zhongshan Road, a busy business area and next to the Zheshan Park, the new Wal-Mart Supercenter occupies a floor area of 19,000 square meters and carries over 18,000 merchandises including fresh food, apparel, electrical appliances, cosmetics, etc. It also has three special service areas featuring optical service, jewelry and one-hour photo service.

Supercenter is the major business format of Wal-Mart China, supplying customers with high quality merchandise at low prices under the philosophy of “Every Day Low Price”. Wal-Mart associates are committed to giving the customers a great shopping experience. The new Wal-Mart store will be able to provide customers with “One Stop Shopping” experience, saving them time and money. As a return to customers’ support, Wal-Mart Wuhu store offered great value merchandise and a series of retailtainment events during the grand opening.

Wal-Mart China opened its first Supercenter and SAM’S CLUB in August 1996 in Shenzhen. Till now, Wal-Mart China has opened 53 stores in 25 cities, including Shenzhen, Kunming, Fuzhou, Dalian, Xiamen, Shantou, Dongguan, Harbin, Changchun, Shenyang, Changsha, Beijing, Nanchang, Jinan, Qingdao, Tianjin, Nanjing, Nanning, Guiyang, Wuhan, Taiyuan, Chongqing, Shanghai, Jinjiang and Yuxi. Wal-Mart Supercenter Wuhu Zhongshan Road North Store is the 54th unit opened in China.

Wal-Mart adheres to the corporate culture of “Respect for the Individual, Service to Our Customers and Strive for Excellence” and applies itself to provide customers with high quality products at low prices and great service. 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 charitable organizations have reached over RMB 20 million. By the end of November, 2005, Wal-Mart has employed more than 27,000 associates in China with a total investment of RMB1.7 billion and paid taxes of over RMB 1.5 billion.

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. At present, Wal-Mart employs 1.6 million associates, operates over 6,000 stores and serves nearly 140 million customers in 16 countries worldwide.