Lotte to open 300 stores in China in 10 years

SHANGHAI, June 11 (Reuters) - Lotte Shopping Co (023530.KS), South Korea's biggest department store operator, said on Wednesday it plans to open 300 hypermarkets in China in the next decade, as it competes for market share with Wal-Mart (WMT.N) and Carrefour (CARR.PA) in the world's fastest-growing major economy.

Lotte, which recently entered China by acquiring Beijing-area cash and carry wholesaler CTA Makro, will open its first Lotte Mart store in Beijing next Wednesday.

Lotte will also rebrand seven Makro outlets, located in Beijing and neighbouring Tianjin, into Lotte Marts, Lotte China Vice President Yang Xiaohong said.

Lotte, a unit of Lotte Group, is also seeking to buy more Chinese retailers and plans to expand to the eastern province of Shandong and to Liaoning in the northeast.

Lotte last year agreed to pay about 1.3 billion yuan ($188 million) for 100 percent of CTA Makro, which competes with Metro AG (MEOG.DE) in China.

Makro's outlets are being converted into hypermarkets that will compete with Wal-Mart and Carrefour, Yang said. Lotte will also open its first department store this year.

The Lotte Group's food unit entered China in 1994 and sells chewing gum, biscuits and chocolates.

The group has also invested $1 billion to build a commercial complex in the northeastern city of Shenyang that includes a shopping centre, a theme park and hotels. ($1=6.922 Yuan) (Reporting by Samuel Shen; Editing by Edmund Klamann)