Two Wal-Mart employees released in China | Irish Sun

Two Wal-Mart employees released in China

Irish Sun Tuesday 1st May, 2012

• The identities of the two employees were not known

• Wal-Mart entered China in 1996

• The two workers were arrested in October

BEIJING - Six months after their arrest over mislabelling of pork, two Wal-Mart Stores employees were released in the Chinese city of Chongqing.

Christina Lee, a Wal-Mart spokeswoman, said the city authorities had decided not to press charges against the two and released them last week.

The identities of the two employees were not known.

The two workers were arrested in October last year amid a probe of the Arkansas-based retailer for mislabelling ordinary pork as organic, which is more expensive. Besides, 35 other Wal-Mart employees were detained and the company was fined 3.65 million yuan ($579,000).

Wal-Mart's 13 stores in the city closed down temporarily and it suffered bad publicity nationwide.

The release of the two employees comes after the suspension of Bo Xilai, the city's former Communist Party chief who was widely expected to get a top positing in the government.

Wal-Mart, which entered China in 1996, expanded in 2007 when it bought 35 per cent of Taiwanese hypermarket chain Trust-Mart.

It has for competition in China, French hypermarket chain Carrefour, Britain's Tesco, Germany's Metro AG.

After the Chongqing controversy broke out, Wal-Mart China chief Ed Chan resigned citing personal reasons.