Retail giant Mal Mart will open its 68th China shopping mall in Haikou, capital of Hainan Province, south China.

It will be the first of the kind in this southern Chinese island province.

The Commercial Property Limited of Shenzhen International Trust and Investment Co. Ltd.(SITIC), the Chinese partner of Wal-Mart-SITIC General Merchandise Co. Ltd, on Saturday signed an agreement on cooperation in the new Wal-Mart shopping mall construction with Hainan Provincial Administration of State Farms and Land Reclamation.

The planned shopping mall will be built near Jinniuling Park on bustling Haixiu Middle Road, covering an area of 45,333.6 sq m, sources from SITIC Commercial Property Limited said.

SITIC Commercial Property Limited will construct a large plaza for shopping and supportive facilities, with the combined floor space amounting to 100,000 sq m, on the land provided by the Hainan Provincial Administration of State Farms and Land Reclamation.

On its completion, the shopping mall is said to be able to offer more than 1,300 job opportunities for locals.

The project will break ground for construction in the latter half of the year and the shopping mall will begin operation late next year.

Wal-Mart, with headquarters in the United States, entered China in 1996 and has opened 56 shopping centers across China so far. SITIC Commercial Property Limited is a real estate company SITIC established to support Wal-Mart's fast expansion in China.

(Xinhua News Agency April 17, 2006)