Wal-Mart is expanding its footprint in China, despite recent stumbles in Japan, Germany and South Korea. As reported in The Deal, the discount retailer is set to buy Trust-Mart, a Taiwanese-owned operator of hypermarkets, for $1 billion. If all goes as planned, Wal-Mart will add 31 stores to the 66 it already operates.

Corporate Dealmaker's K.C. Swanson dove deep into what the climate is like for U.S. retailers in China in the magazine's July issue. Demand for goods is high, but the market is a difficult one to crack for Western retailers. Competition is brutal, discount prices rule, and Western-style, customer-centric service is suspect. (That can't bode well for those smiling Wal-Mart greeters.)

Wal-Mart has blazed somewhat of a trail in the Middle Kingdom, having set up shop a decade ago. And with China's blistering growth, that’s an eternity. — Suzanne Stevens

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