SHANGHAI – According to an article in the China Times, two major companies —Taiwan's Ruentex Group, which has interests in retail, financial services and real estate, and a subsidiary of Sinopec Corporation— have agreed to collaborate to operate a chain of convenience stores.

Ruentex, which runs the hypermarket chain RT-Mart in Taiwan and China, along with French hypermarket chain Auchan and C-store convenience stores in China, will purchase merchandise together with Sinopec Chemical Commercial Holding Company to cut costs.

The Taiwan-based conglomerate and the Sinopec subsidiary have chosen Easy Joy's Shanghai store to explore e-commerce opportunities and the online-to-offline business model on a trial basis.

Ruentex has years of experience in merchandise purchasing, distribution and managing convenience stores. The Taiwanese conglomerate said the partnership will allow both to contribute their own expertise, with Ruentex boasting an experienced sales team and the Chinese company having a vast number of convenience stores, which will help Ruentex reach more Chinese customers.

The two companies may also collaborate to develop their own branded products. Ruentex is expected to launch another 50 hypermarkets in China this year and has reported sales of $16 billion. The number of RT-Mart and Auchan stores in China is expected to reach 380 by the end of this year, while the number of C-stores is expected to top 600.