Walmart China plans to invest 8 billion yuan (US$1.16 billion) in logistics and supply chains in the next 10 to 20 years, the company’s top executive said, China Daily reports.
Ryan McDaniel, senior vice-president of Walmart China Supply Chain, said the investment includes building or updating more than 10 distribution centers to improve its supply chain capacity.
The company will continue to add investment in the supply chain to boost its online-and-offline businesses to better meet demands from Chinese consumers on fresh goods and convenience services, he said.
The retailer’s 700 million yuan perishable distribution center in South China is the largest single investment in Walmart’s 23-year history in the country.
Since operations started in March, the center has supplied more than 100 stores in South China’s Guangdong province and Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, a region that has strong preferences for fresh goods.
The center in Dongguan city covers 33,700 square meters and can cope with more than 4,000 types of merchandise that require freezing or constant temperatures. Its cold chain storage capacity in the region has increased five times.
Walmart requires vehicles to pre-freeze the cargo area before being loaded and temperatures of all vehicles are monitored during transportation to guarantee the quality of fresh goods quality and their delivery to a store.