The Blackstone Group has inked an agreement to manage Bank of America Merrill Lynch's Asian real estate assets across Asia, with the majority in Japan, China, India and South Korea.

The South Korean department store retailer Lotte has announced its new strategy for the Chinese market, stating that it will accelerate its expansion in China and will open its first Chinese single ownership store in Tianjin in 2011.

South Korean retailer E-Mart will open its first shopping mall, Star Mall Caobao Shopping Mall, in Shanghai on May 25, 2010.

The South Korean retailer Lotte has announced that it will focus on the Chinese market in its overseas expansion and it is planning to open 20 new department stores there by 2018.

Although it entered the Chinese market 13 years ago, the development of South Korea's E-Mart has been slow. However, its newly appointed China president has stated that it will accelerate its expansion and will open 100 new stores by 2015.

According to E-Mart's Chinese headquarters, the South Korean supermarket retailer plans to open its first shopping mall on Shanghai's Caobao road.