Uniqlo chief: China slowdown 'no impact' on growth plans

Walt Disney Co's new park in Shanghai will help the Uniqlo casual wear brand expand in China, Fast Retailing Co Chairman Tadashi Yanai said on Saturday, shrugging off concerns over an economic slowdown in the Japanese retailer's largest overseas market.

"The opening of the Shanghai Disneyland gives both of us, Uniqlo and Disney, a business opportunity," Japan's richest person Yanai told reporters in Shanghai, where Uniqlo on Sunday opened a new Disney-inspired concept store. "Our business is getting absolutely no impact" from China's slowdown, he said.

Uniqlo devoted an entire floor at its six-story China flagship store in central Shanghai to products co-designed with Disney. A life-sized Mickey Mouse statue greets visitors to the store, where T-shirts and toys depicting characters such as Tinker Bell, Woody of Disney Pixar's Toy Story animated films, and Darth Vader from the Star Wars movies are on display.