US chain Wal-Mart has invested in Chinese e-commerce consumer electronics seller 360buy.com as the world's largest retailer steps up its presence in China, a report said Tuesday.
According to the Financial Times, Wal-Mart has teamed up with another five investors to inject 500 million dollars into 360buy, a fast-growing online retailer in China whose rivals include Taobao, the dominant online marketplace owned by Alibaba. This information was not sourced.
A spokeswoman for 360buy confirmed the story, but declined to reveal the total investment amount from Wal-Mart and the US chain's spokesman gave no comment.
Wal-Mart, which has nearly 200 outlets in China, targeted the country's low-income and rural consumers as it launched a no-frills store format last month in the eastern province of Jiangxi.
The newly-opened "compact hypermarket" is expected to be the first of a series of stores using a bare-bones model developed in Latin America.
The retailer's third-quarter sales in China soared 15.2 percent from a year earlier. Global sales in 14 countries outside the United States rose 9.3 percent in the same period, while US sales rose 1.4 percent.
