Spain's Inditex to expand presence in China

The Spain-based world clothing retailer giant Inditex will open its first Massimo Dutti store in Macau later this month, as part of its expansion into China.

The Massimo Dutti store to be opened will focus on smart casual items. Inditex has planned another outlet in Hong Kong next year.

Inditex announced its expansion plan in China, follows the opening in April of Swedish clothing retailer H&M's first store in mainland China. Inditex underscores the growing appeal of China to international fashion retailers in its announcement.

According to Pablo Isla, chief executive officer of Inditex, the firm will focus its growth in Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai.

Inditex, whose chains include Zara and Bershka, is the largest clothing retailer in terms of sales in Europe. In 2004, Inditex set its first Chinese outlet in Hong Kong. Two years later, Inditex started to open outlets in the mainland. Now, there are nine Zara outlets of Inditex in China.

Inditex already faces competition in China for a share of this growing market from Spain-based Mango, Germany-based C&A as well as a raft of local brands such as Hong Kong-based Esprit.