Suning paid ¥5.2B for Carrefour China — seven years later it sold for ¥2M

In 2019 Suning.com paid a cumulative ¥5.224 billion in two tranches for 100% of Carrefour China — the country's largest foreign hypermarket chain, over 200 stores — betting the format would complete its 'full-scenario retail' network. It was the high-water mark of Suning's acquisition spree. The bet started losing almost immediately: hypermarket traffic was already moving to fresh-food delivery, community stores and membership clubs, and Carrefour China's cost base was built for the old model.

From 2020 to 2023 the business lost nearly ¥7.8 billion. Stores closed by the dozens; from September 2025 Suning began batch-selling 24 regional Carrefour subsidiaries at symbolic prices — one yuan, four yuan, eight yuan. In August 2025 it paid the French Carrefour group ¥220 million to settle their disputes and end the brand relationship; the rump business was renamed Keyoushi. By the end of 2025 the holding company's net assets stood at -¥4.459 billion: ¥1.315 billion of assets against ¥7.668 billion of liabilities.

On May 18, 2026, Suning listed 100% of Keyoushi Holdings on the Jiangsu Property Rights Exchange with a reserve price of one yuan. The sole bidder was Hong Kong Kuaixing Tianxia International — a company incorporated less than a year earlier with HK$10,000 of registered capital, backed by mainland supply-chain affiliates that serve thousands of supermarkets. On June 30 Suning confirmed the transfer for ¥2 million. The arithmetic completed the joke: removing the loss-making shell from consolidation was expected to add roughly ¥1.27 billion to Suning's profit.