Shanghai, August 27 - Several local procurement managers of French retailing giant Carrefour SA have been detained in China on suspicion of taking bribes from food suppliers, official media and a company source said on Monday.
Carrefour, which is expanding aggressively in China, reported the managers to local police after an internal investigation uncovered bribery in Beijing and northeast China, the source, who declined to be identified, told Reuters.
Quoting unidentified officials of the company, the Shanghai Securities News reported police had detained eight Carrefour managers for alleged bribery and were continuing to investigate the cases.
Carrefour's China spokesman Chen Bo, contacted by telephone in Shanghai, said the company was cooperating with police in an investigation. He declined to comment further.
Carrefour China President Eric Legros e-mailed the probe results to some of the company's China employees, the source said. "This serves as a warning against possible misconduct in the future," the source added.
Europe's largest retailer operates 100 superstores in 37 Chinese cities, and is adding 20-25 stores each year. In 2005, it set up four regional headquarters in China to manage its businesses there.
Carrefour's China sales surged 53 percent last year to 24.8 billion yuan ($3.3 billion), outpacing 30 percent growth at Wal-Mart Stores and a 14 percent rise for China's overall retail market. ($1=7.56 yuan)