Sales slump in 2012 for Chinese retail giants

Sales growth of the Chinese top retail giants in 2012 stumbled to the slowest point for the past decade, the China Chain Store & Franchise Association said on Wednesday.

Total sales of the top 100 large retail chains in China increased 10.8 percent year-on-year to 1.87 trillion yuan ($303 billion) in 2012, which lower than the 14.3 percent year-on-year increase of 2012 China's total retail sales.

Sales of the top Chinese 100 large retail chains increased more than 20 percent year-on-year to 1.65 trillion yuan in 2011. One year earlier, the figure hit 1.66 trillion yuan, a year-on-year jump of 21.2 percent.

According to the CCFA, Suning Commerce Group Co Ltd tops the Chinese 100 large retail chain list by sales revenue, followed by the Shanghai-based Bailian Group Co Ltd and Gome Electrical Appliances.

"Last year's sales growth was the slowest since 2000," the association said. CCFA attributed the slump in retail business to the sluggish economy, increasing costs and impact from online sales.

In 2012, China's economic expansion slowed to 7.8 percent year-on-year amid external jitters and domestic woes. Last year's figure was the slowest year of growth for China since 1999 and was down from 9.3 percent in 2011 and 10.4 percent in 2010, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.