DISNEY STORES to enter China in 2012

Disney Stores is planning to open its first store in China by mid-2012. The company said its strategy would be to secure locations in upscale shopping centres and department stores, where it will open Disney Stores similar to those in Europe and North America.

"The kids-branded retail market in China is growing and we are uniquely positioned to provide a family shopping environment," Stanley Cheung, Disney's Greater China EVP and Managing Director, said in a statement.

The company did not say how many stores it aimed to open in China but did say it would be adding more than 25 new and remodelled global stores throughout 2011.