Carrefour launches convenience stores

France's Carrefour, the world's second-largest hypermarket group by sales, confirmed that it is expanding in China with its Easy Carrefour convenience chain store brand.

Its first Easy Carrefour shop in China, located in Shanghai, was spotted by people and reported by Chinese online media on Monday.

A Carrefour employee familiar with the matter, who declined to be named, confirmed to the Global Times the existence of the new shop project.

The new move can be seen as part of the hypermarket group's efforts to diversify its businesses in China, media reports said, with the company stepping into the convenience chain store sector, which enjoys double-digit growth but is also already crowded with competitors in some first-tier cities in China.