Plenus, the operator of the Japanese Hotto Motto chain of bento stores, has announced plans to enter the Chinese market.

According to a report released by the global environmental organization Greenpeace, the U.S.-based retail giant Wal-Mart has been selling genetically modified rice in China.

COFCO, one of China's biggest agricultural trading and processing companies, has signed an overall strategic cooperative agreement with the Japanese trading company Itochu on the global purchase of grain and oil products.

Starting May 2008, the Hangzhou Price Bureau will collect price information of major commodity products from 19 influential retailers in the city, make comparisons and publish the results weekly. This is reportedly an innovation in China.