進入英語學習論壇下載音頻 去聽寫專區一展身手

US retail giant Wal-Mart announced Monday that Wal-Mart China's President and CEO Ed Chan has resigned. The news comes after recent store closures and food scandals.

Effective immediately, Scott Price, president and CEO of Wal-Mart Asia, will serve as interim leader for Wal-Mart China, replacing Chan, who is leaving the company for personal reasons.

The company also announced the resignation of Clara Wong, senior vice-president of Wal-Mart China's human resources department.

The company has recently closed some stores and is under investigation regarding accusations that it labeled ordinary pork as organic in the southwest city of Chongqing. In the same region, Wal-Mart was also accused of false advertising and selling expired food.

The company said that Chan's resignation was not connected to the store closures and pork-labeling probe.

Chan's departure follows several executives' leaving Wal-Mart's Chinese operation this year - Rob Cissell, former chief financial officer, in May, and Shawn Gray, former vice-president of Wal-Mart China's hypermarket operation, in June.

The world's largest chain retailer by sales and revenue entered China in 1996, and Chan took over as Wal-Mart China's president and CEO in 2007, when the retailer had more than 70 stores and 30,000 employees in China.

As of October 1, it had 353 units in 130 cities and had created about 100,000 job opportunities across China.

During Chan's tenure at Wal-Mart, the company announced it had acquired a 35 percent stake in Trust-Mart Group in 2007, one of the biggest chain retailers in southern China. Wal-Mart also established an e-commerce office to oversee its online retail operations in the country.

（中國日報網英語點津 Helen 編輯）

About the broadcaster:

Emily Cheng is an editor at China Daily. She was born in Sydney, Australia and graduated from the University of Sydney with a degree in Media, English Literature and Politics. She has worked in the media industry since starting university and this is the third time she has settled abroad - she interned with a magazine in Hong Kong 2007 and studied at the University of Leeds in 2009.