(Yicai Global) Aug. 14 -- Uniqlo Co., a wholly-owned Japanese casual wear subsidiary of Fast Retailing Co. [TYO:9983], will have more shops in China than in Japan as soon as 2020, media reported. Uniqlo plans to expand its Chinese presence by building a 1,000-store network, roughly doubling the number of locations it has in the country.

The clothing brand was running about 540 stores in 120 cities in China as of the end of May, Nikkei Business Daily reported today. Uniqlo opened 100 stores per year in China in the past, but will accelerate its growth in two or three years to open 1,000 stores by 2020, said Fast Retailing Group Executive Vice President Pan Ning, who heads Uniqlo's China operations. The company will hasten its shop-opening pace by a predicted 50 percent.

The number of Uniqlo stores in Japan has remained stable at around 840. Overall overseas sales volume is expected to exceed Japanese volume in several years.