China’s top market regulator summoned Walmart China over alleged food safety issues at Sam’s Club stores and online channels, putting official pressure on one of Walmart’s fastest-growing China businesses.
The regime’s State Administration for Market Regulation said in a brief notice on June 15 that it had summoned the head of Walmart (China) Investment Co., Ltd., which it identified as Sam’s Club headquarters.
The notice did not identify specific products, stores, batches, penalties, inspection findings, or case numbers. It also did not say whether authorities had opened a formal investigation or issued an administrative penalty.
The State Administration for Market Regulation said Walmart China must follow China’s Food Safety Law and two regulatory rules governing food safety responsibilities for chain and online food sellers.
Walmart China and Sam’s Club did not respond to The Epoch Times’ request for comment by publication time.
State-backed news outlets quoted Sam’s Club as saying it had accepted the regulator’s criticism, apologized to members, formed a management-led special rectification task force, and started a self-inspection and rectification process across all sales channels and the full supply chain.
Davy J. Wong, a U.S.-based economist, told The Epoch Times that the summons should be read as both a food safety action and a warning to foreign capital.
He said Sam’s Club is not necessarily blameless, but its position in China reflects a deeper trust deficit in the country’s domestic food supply system.
Sam’s Club has continued to draw middle-class consumers in China, despite complaints and higher membership costs, because many shoppers have less confidence in domestic food supply chains, Wong said.
He described the company’s position in China as benefiting from a “reluctant trust premium.” That premium, he said, does not come from Sam’s Club being “perfect,” but from Chinese consumers’ concerns about domestic food fraud, poor quality control, and unsafe products.
While domestic retailers face pressure of distrust, regime authorities were using regulatory power to send a message to a foreign retailer whose China business has drawn attention, Wong said.
He described the summons as an official warning for multinational companies operating in China to remain compliant, keep a low profile, and, in his words, “pay protection fee.”
A Fast-Growing Business in China
The summons puts official scrutiny on a business that has been expanding rapidly in China.
Walmart China said on May 21 that its net sales reached $8 billion for the Feb. 1, 2026, to April 30, 2026, quarter, which Walmart reports as the first quarter of fiscal 2027, up 22.3 percent from a year earlier.
Comparable sales in China rose 13.1 percent, and e-commerce net sales rose 31 percent, accounting for half of Walmart China’s total net sales, according to the company.
Sam’s Club China “continued to see robust growth,” Walmart China said, adding nine new stores in the past 12 months and recording double-digit growth in transactions.
Walmart’s global “Walmart in China” page lists 341 total retail units in China as of April 30, including 278 Walmart Supercenters and 63 Sam’s Club units. The page says Sam’s Club offers about 4,000 items in China and a one-hour delivery service through multiple platforms, including the Sam’s Club app.
Pressure on Foreign Firms
The summons comes as U.S. companies in China continue to cite strained bilateral relations, policy uncertainty, market-access concerns, and China’s slowing economy as major business challenges.
The American Chamber of Commerce in China’s 2026 China Business Climate Survey said 83 percent of respondents viewed positive U.S.–China relations as important to their operations in China. The survey listed concerns over China’s slowing economic growth, cited by 64 percent of respondents, and strained bilateral relations, cited by 58 percent, as the top two business challenges.
The survey also said 43 percent of respondents either had no plans to expand investment in China or planned to reduce it. For companies planning to scale back investment, uncertainty in U.S.–China economic and trade relations and concerns about China’s slowing growth were the main factors cited.
A separate U.S.-China Business Council 2026 member survey said that China operations remained important to global competitiveness for 95 percent of respondents, but only about half planned to invest in China this year. The council said China’s support for domestic companies, including through industrial policy and preferential treatment in government procurement, was eroding gains from formal market-access openings.
Luo Ya contributed to this report.
