(Yicai Global) Sept. 2 -- Walmart has no comment on rumors that it will sell its Chinese supermarket business, but has no plans to do so, Walmart China said in a statement it issued today.

The Arkansas-based retail heavyweight has contacted buyers to sell its stake in its Chinese supermarket business and hopes to bring in strategic investors for that purpose, media recently reported, citing an informed source.

Foreign supermarkets have generally met with difficulties in their Chinese businesses in recent years under the combined onslaught of e-commerce and bruising competition in the retail field. Overseas grocers such as Tesco, Lotte Mart, and E-mart have all withdrawn from China. Carrefour and Metro Group, which have not pulled out, are casting about for local partners. Walmart is still growing its business in the country and seeking online and offline integration, it stated.

The company sold its Chinese online retail business in exchange for a stake in JD.Com in 2016. It owns about 5 percent of JD.Com’s stock, and the pair is cooperating in many areas. Walmart has opened Sam’s Club stores, official global flagship stores and community stores on the Beijing-based e-tailer’s platform.

Walmart China will open 500 new stores and cloud-based warehouses in China in the next five to seven years and upgrade 200 existing outlets, the firm announced in November. It also plans to enhance the construction of its logistics system in the country.

Walmart China has around 100,000 employees after more than 20 years’ development in the nation, the firm said on its website. It has formed partnerships with over 7,000 suppliers, and more than 95 percent of the products it sells are sourced locally.

Editor: Ben Armour