Consumer China

Zhongbai's success begins (and ends?) at home

  • Published 14 May 2009

Chinese retailer is driving profits through expansion across its home province of Hubei, but it is so far struggling to mirror this success beyond its borders.

Wuhan Zhongbai Group (000759:SHA), a retail chain store operator, derives both its main strength and weakness from its home province of Hubei. The strength is that Hubei's boom in recent years has helped propel Zhongbai past famous national brands such as Beijing Hualian in the league rankings of Chinese retailers by turnover. The weakness is that in spite of its size, Wuhan Zhongbai is still so much a Hubei company that it has found it difficult to expand into other provincial markets.

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