Taiwan-based Buynow said on May 11 it will invest at least 6 billion yuan (US$750 million) in the Chinese mainland over the next five years to build 26 new IT supermarkets, like Best Buy.

Buynow plans to open one IT mall in each of 35 cities, the company said in Shanghai yesterday. It currently owns nine IT malls on the Chinese mainland.

IT malls in Beijing, Qingdao in Shangdong Province and Xiamen in Fujian Province are under construction and scheduled to open in 2007 and 2008, said company vice president Elton Shi.

In Shanghai, Buynow has one IT supermarket in Xujiahui and it plans to build another mall in Shanghai in the next five years, according to Shi.

Buynow buys the land and builds its own malls and then cashes in by renting stores to IT companies like IBM and Hewlett Packard.

"Different from other IT malls, we provide clients unique services like unified computer repair centers, large parking lots and specially designed restaurants," Shi said.

In 2005, the total trade volume at Buynow's nine existing malls was 20 billion yuan but the company declined to reveal comparative figures.

Competition in the electronic retail industry has become more heated as Chinese people are eager and capable of buying expensive IT gadgets from mobile phones, and computers to LCD TV sets.

Best Buy Co Inc, the largest consumer electronics retailer in North America, plans to open its first Shanghai mall, also in Xujiahui.

Shanghai Yongle Appliance Chains, which owns 53 electronic stores, also plans to open 17 more by the end of this year in the city's suburbs and major business centers.

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