BBC news 3rd October 2013
With nearly 1.4 billion people, China is the biggest consumer market in the world. But its proven to be a tough one to crack for British supermarket giant Tesco.
After struggling to make money in the country, Tesco has announced a joint venture with China Resource Enterprises (CRE).
The UK firm will combine its Tesco China business, which includes 134 stores, with the 2,986 stores held by CRE’s Vanguard business.
Tesco will have a 20% stake in the business, which it said would have sales approaching £10bn.
The announcement came as Tesco reported a 23.5% drop in profits during the first half of its financial year.