(Yicai Global) May 23 -- Walmart Inc. has closed the first store it built in Anhui province to leave itself with only four in the region as the retail giant eyes change in business model.

The Arkansas-based firm has now closed 15 of its 19 Anhui stories over the past five years, including eight in provincial capital Hefei, state-owned China National Radio reported today. It shut the 20,000-square meter store in Wuhu yesterday, after opening shop in 2005.

The string of closures is down to a company transformation and an attempt to upgrade efforts in the retail sector, said Zhang Junli, general manager for the province. Supermarket closures are quite common, not a sign of recession, and should have little impact on Walmart's brand and reputation, she added, saying the company is developing community-based retail outlets and has opened online marketplaces in partnership with e-commerce platforms.

China's retail market is undergoing huge changes as the likes of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. push the New Retail model, which its Executive Chairman Jack Ma describes as "the integration of online, offline, logistics and data across a single value chain." Alibaba, alongside rivals Tencent Holdings Ltd. and JD.Com Inc.,

China's biggest online retailer, have been flexing their might in the brick-and-mortar sector as they look to merge the two differing shopping experiences.

International retail giants, including Walmart, France's Carrefour SA and Japan's AEON CO. closed a total of 45 stores in China last year. The traditional supermarket model can no longer satisfy the diverse demands of consumers and has gradually been replaced by commercial complexes offering shopping, dining, recreation and entertainment, said Liu Wenyong, head of Heilongjiang University's Economic Research Institute.

Editor: James Boynton