China will further open its commerce sector to overseas retailers to modernize its transaction system and maintain the sustainable development of the national economy.

So said Xie Xuren, vice-minister of the State Economic and Trade Commission, in his keynote speech at the Global Sourcing Forum, a major part of the International Retailers Global Sourcing Fair in Nanjing, capital of East China's Jiangsu Province.

With the deepening of market-orientated reforms, China is gradually shifting from a seller's market to a buyer's market. That shift has put pressure on the commerce sector to change and develop quickly.

Although China's own big retailers, such as Hualian Development Group and Lianhua Supermarket, have been developing rapidly in recent years, they are still no match for giant retailers known worldwide.

Statistics show that revenue from commerce makes up less than 9 per cent of China's national economy but has made up more than 15 per cent of developed countries' economies since the mid-1990s.

To propel the modernization of China's commerce business, the government encouraged overseas commercial enterprises to open businesses in China in the early 1990s.

China plans to open its retail, wholesale, charter business and other kinds of commercial businesses to the outside world within two to five years of China's accession last year to the World Trade Organization, Xie said.

So far, more than 40 such enterprises have been established in China with a capital of more than US$3 billion. Half of the world's top 50 retailers have opened stores in China.

The fair has attracted 34 world retailers from 14 countries and regions, including such giants as Wal-Mart, Carrefour, Metro, Aeon and Tesco.

"We are here to seek more opportunities for development and co-operation because China's huge market has enormous potential for Carrefour," Philippe Rabit, Carrefour's vice-chairman, said at the forum.

The fair is jointly organized by the State Economic and Trade Commission and Jiangsu provincial government.