Supermarket chain Jingkelong has announced plans to enter the department store business with the launch of Jiulong Department Store in Beijing.

With a construction area of 72000 sqm, it will mainly target middle class consumers. Gao Jingsheng, assistant manager of Jingkelong, says that Jiulong will be formally opened to the public in April or May of next year.

Jingkelong will cooperate with Cuiwei Group for this new venture. Cuiwei will be in charge of the management of the shopping mall.

Jingkelong now has 169 retailer stores in China, covering the business sectors of hypermarkets, supermarkets and convenience stores.