Lotte to Sell off Food Business in China

Lotte is poised to sell off its food manufacturing business in China after getting rid of its supermarkets there.

A source at Lotte said Tuesday, "We have decided to shut down some factories run by Lotte Confectionery and Lotte Chilsung Beverage" in China.

Lotte was hard hit by a Chinese boycott after it made a site available in Korea for the U.S. to station a a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense battery.

Due to plunging revenues and government chicanery it shut down its supermarkets and is in the process of closing down its department stores there. Its department store in Tianjin will shut down at the end of this month, leaving only three in the world's most populous country.

Lotte Confectionery and Lotte Chilsung Beverage own six factories in China.

Lotte started business in China in 1994 and has invested more than W10 trillion into its operations there (US$1=W1,130).