Walmart’s Problems In China Have Deep Roots

A Bloomberg analysis of internal Walmart documents related to its business in China, as well as information gathered from employees, tell a tale of long-developing problems in the country, including questionable accounting, unauthorized sales practice and severe inventory problems. Some stores, for example, were booking sales when no merchandise left the shelves. Some stores were routinely making unauthorized bulk sales to other retailers. After years of crowing about its success in the region, the company finally admitted in August its operations in China have been in serious trouble. The revelation led to a management shake-up and cuts in staff.