By 2005 Wumart had more than 450 hypermarkets, supermarkets and convenience stores.

ECONOMIST: Retail in China

Wu Jianzhong, Wumart's chairman, thinks Chinese stores need to spruce up.

ECONOMIST: Retail in China

Wumart, the Beijing-based chain, was founded in the early 1990s by Zhang Wenzhong, who had developed an IT system for retailers while at Stanford University but found that retailers weren't interested in it.

ECONOMIST: Retail in China