(Yicai Global) Feb. 9 -- Carrefour China reportedly denied that its vice presidents have departed from the hypermarket chain operator and confirmed that its chief operating officer resigned for personal reasons.

Carrefour China, which is majority owned by Chinese retail giant Suning.Com, said COO Zhang Qihe had left the Shanghai-based company in what it described as a normal personnel change, The Paper reported yesterday.

“It would be inappropriate for me to comment on other people's situations,” Zhang said in response to reports about other executives having exited Carrefour China, Caijing reported yesterday. “I left for personal reasons.”

Zhang had been COO since Suning acquired Carrefour China in 2019, a person in charge of the company said, adding that the management team is stable.

At the end of last September, Carrefour China announced that Suning Senior VP Gong Zhenyu would become its new chief executive officer, while former CEO Tian Rui would be transferred back to Suning to manage the retailer’s store model innovation.

Carrefour China is transforming and upgrading to meet challenges and promote a new supply chain model that includes distribution, agencies, and tie-ups, the firm has said. The changes had led to rumors about the firm exiting the local market and scalpers dealing in its gift cards, it noted. As shoppers rushed to stores to buy, Carrefour China implemented strategic adjustments that led to product shortages and restrictions on gift cards, it added.

Carrefour entered China in 1995 and expanded quickly early on, securing a relatively large market share. But profits began to decline as competition increased. In 2019, the French retailer sold 80 percent of its loss-making China business to Jiangsu province-based Suning for CNY4.8 billion (USD699 million at the time).

Carrefour had 151 stores in China as of Sept. 30, after 54 closed in the first three quarters of the year, according to Suning's financial report released on Nov. 1. Carrefour China's net loss widened almost 14 percent to CNY662 million (USD98 million) in the first half of 2022 from a year earlier.

Editor: Futura Costaglione