Carrefour reports best sales performance in China since 2001
PARIS (AFP) — French retailing giant Carrefour, recently under fire in China from protesters opposed to French policy on Tibet, said Tuesday that first quarter sales in China were at their best levels since 2001.
Carrefour reported that revenue overall rose 10.2 percent to 23.4 billion euros (36 billion dollars) in the first three months of the year from the same period of 2007, driven by activities in Asia and Latin America.
Sales in China in the quarter surged 18.5 percent to 1.0 billion euros.
"Chinese operations registered their best performance since 2001 ... in both food and non-food activities," the company said.
Hundreds of protesters gathered earlier this month at Carrefour outlets in Chinese cities, including Beijing, Chongqing, Shenyang, Changsha and Fuzhou, according to state press reports.
Many carried Chinese national flags and shouted slogans against Carrefour and Tibet independence, while voicing support for the August Beijing Olympics.
The protests did not appear to interrupt business at the stores.
Anti-French actions broke out in April amid anger at the chaotic Paris leg of the Olympic torch relay last month, when pro-Tibet activists tried to grab the flame from Jin Jing, a wheelchair-bound Chinese athlete.
China was also angered by French President Nicolas Sarkozy's refusal to rule out staying away from the Olympic opening ceremony in Beijing on August 8 unless China opened talks with Tibet's exiled leader the Dalai Lama.
