Wal-mart closes store in Chongqing

The world's largest retailer, Wal-mart Stores, has closed an outlet in southwest China's metropolitan of Chongqing.

The store on Nanbin Road, a riverside avenue in Nan'an District in southern Chongqing, closed on Tuesday.

A staff member, who declined to be named, said the closure was decided by Wal-mart China because the store had been losing money for a long time. Poor site selection has been given as a major reason for the store's slow trade. The avenue is a tourist attraction offering views of the Yangtze River.

Wal-mart entered Chongqing 10 years ago, and this was its first closure in the city.

The staff member said the company planned to invest in its 12 other city outlets.

Wal-mart China closed 10 stores nationwide in November and December.

The emergence of online shopping has been seen as an increasing challenge for firms like Walmart.

Although it still accounted for less than 10 percent of China's total sales of consumer goods, the country's online retail market posted a transaction volume of 1.89 billion yuan (307 billion U.S. dollars) in 2013, growing by 42.8 percent year on year.

Wal-mart's stores also face competition from local retailers. Chinese grocery retailer Yonghui Superstores has been in talks to rent the site that Walmart has vacated in Chongqing.