Wal-Mart to lay off 250 staff

US retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc plans to lay off 250 employees in China in a bid to improve efficiency, the Bloomberg news agency reported Tuesday.

Ray Bracy, Wal-Mart's spokesman, said other departments including tax and asset protection will also cut some jobs, the report said.

After cutting about 30 senior executives in China branch last month, Wal-Mart's new downsizing plan targets low- and middle-level employees, according to the report.

The company will open nine new stores and a new distribution center in China, bringing the number of new facilities established in 2014 to 31, which added more than 6,000 new jobs, according to a statement Wal-Mart released on its Sina Weibo Tuesday.