French retailing giant Carrefour confirmed in a statement
yesterday that eight managers in its northern China stores are
being held by police and a Shenzhen employee has been punished in a
kickback probe, and vowed to root out such practices.
"So far, the company has discovered evidence of a number of
managers and employees violating laws and company rules," said the
Chinese-language statement e-mailed to the Shenzhen Daily
yesterday.
An employee with the Meilin Carrefour store in Shenzhen had been
punished in the probe, the statement said. The company declined to
say how much kickbacks the employee had requested.
The retailing giant also said it had set up a hotline
(021-56354911) to allow suppliers to report any Carrefour managers
or staff requesting kickbacks, and said it was cooperating with
police in a deepening probe of the alleged bribes.
The statement did not include further comment, citing the
investigation.
Seven of the eight detained managers ran fresh food sections in
Beijing stores and demanded kickbacks from suppliers, earlier media
reports had said. The eighth was responsible for purchasing fresh
meat.
Altogether, 22 people including the eight managers and 12
suppliers were caught in the probe launched in July and have been
handed over to police, the reports said.
The Carrefour statement did not mention detentions other than
the eight managers.
It added that it would strengthen efforts against corruption in
its operations and raise the "professional level" of its staff.
Carrefour's China spokesman Chen Bo said the company was
cooperating with police in an investigation. He declined to comment
further.
In a statement in Paris last week, Carrefour said the management
of Carrefour China had discovered the existence of practices
breaking Chinese laws and company rules.
It added Carrefour worked closely with the authorities to shed
light on the investigation which involves certain employees
suspected of corruption. It added only a few shop staff were
involved.
Carrefour, Europe's largest retailer, operates 100 superstores
in 37 Chinese cities and is adding 20-25 stores each year. In 2005,
it set up four regional headquarters in China to manage its
businesses in the country.
Carrefour's China sales surged 53 percent last year to 24.8
billion yuan (US$3.3 billion), outpacing 30 percent growth at
Wal-Mart Stores and a 14 percent rise for China's overall retail
market.
(Shenzhen Daily September 4, 2007)
