A supermarket in Lishui. [Photo/Tide News]

The city of Lishui in Zhejiang province has been promoting the transformation and upgrading of its supermarkets and has registered a regional public brand for Lishui supermarkets, according to Tide News on Dec 4.

Statistics show that there are over 62,000 Lishui supermarkets in China, with annual sales exceeding 150 billion yuan ($20.65 billion) and creating over 240,000 jobs. Additionally, there are more than 60,000 Chinese overseas working in retail from Lishui, with annual sales surpassing $14 billion.

Lishui is known as the "home of supermarket startups in China". From the 1990s to the early 2000s, Lishui's small supermarkets experienced rapid expansion.

However, with the rise and expansion of modern large supermarkets in city centers, some Lishui entrepreneurs adapted by opening modern supermarkets in suburban areas. A path of corporatization and branding has yielded supermarkets like Wankeyuan and Darduo.

In 2022, the Lishui Supermarket Association was established to foster city-level collaboration and encourage local supermarket entrepreneurs to engage in industrial transformation.

Additionally, Lishui has released over 20 measures covering skills, legal, medical, education, and financial services to provide effective support for the transformation and upgrading of supermarkets.

Since October, Lishang Guochao Group has been piloting the renovation of the first 10 Lishui supermarkets in Hangzhou, optimizing shelves, goods, and supply chains. The next step is to promote online operation services and achieve digital transformation.

"We will establish a supply chain system featuring centralized procurement, distribution, and supply that will boost Lishui product sales," said Yu Pingkang, general manager of Lishang Guochao Group.