(Yicai) April 15 -- Major Chinese brick-and-mortar supermarket chains, including Bravo YH and RT-Mart, have quickly followed online retailers in launching initiatives to help exporters impacted by big US tariffs sell their products domestically.

Bravo YH will open green channels at its 700-plus outlets nationwide to help high-quality suppliers affected by the US tariff hike to get their products on the shelves in just 15 days, the upmarket brand of Yonghui Superstores announced yesterday. Bravo YH will also offer brand promotion support and co-develop new products tailored to the domestic market with them.

Since the US government implemented its so-called reciprocal tariff policy, Bravo YH has begun product procurement and cooperation talks with over 200 such suppliers as of yesterday, the Fuzhou-based company said.

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on the reciprocal tariffs on April 2, announcing a baseline 10 percent levy on trading partners and additional tariffs for some effective April 5. Chinese imports initially faced an additional 34 percent border tax, which was then ramped up to 145 percent on April 11.

Bravo YH will take the lead in setting up a special area for high-quality export goods in a store in Beijing known for its high footfall within a week, a manager told Yicai, adding that products from suppliers of Sam's Club and Costco will be among the first to hit this store's shelves.

RT-Mart, a hypermarket chain owned by e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding, will rely on its more than 500 Chinese stores to provide free sales channels to exporters passing the review process, according to a source at the retailer.

In addition, RT-Mart's online sales system will open a special cloud roadshow section for export firms to help them increase the exposure of their products, the person noted, adding that RT-Mart’s website has also added a streamlined green registration channel for interested exporters.

Other large retailers and supermarkets, such as Bailian Group, Wumart Group, Wushang Group, and China Resources Vanguard, have also unveiled similar initiatives.

On April 11, internet retail giant JD.Com announced it will buy at least CNY200 billion (USD27.4 billion) of products from firms that previously relied on exports and sell them in China through its e-commerce and logistics channels.

The Beijing-based firm will also set up a special procurement and sales team to buy directly from selected exporters, create a special section on its e-commerce site to promote these products and shield them from low-price competition, and offer various subsidies and resources to foreign trade merchants that open stores on its platforms to help them quickly expand into the Chinese market.

On the same day, Alibaba's grocery chain Freshippo said it will open a green channel for exporters seeking to open shops on its platform and shorten their review and certification process, create a special section on its site to help them reach Chinese consumers, and support them in developing new products that better meet domestic demand.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione