Regarding online reports that RT-Mart’s chief operating officer, Guan Mingwu, was taken by the police for assistance in an investigation, industry insiders said that the incident is related to the company’s internal anti-corruption efforts. On Sept. 12, RT-Mart [3] stated that the executive had been lawfully detained by public security authorities on suspicion of occupational crimes. The case is currently under investigation, and all information should be based on official announcements and the results of the investigation.

According to industry insiders, Guan has already left RT-Mart. He previously served as general manager of RT-Mart’s Shanghai operational district, reporting directly to the current CEO, Shen Hui.

Earlier this year, Alibaba’s subsidiaries, along with New Retail, sold their entire equity stake [4] in Sun Art Retail Group, the parent company of RT-Mart. Since DCP Capital took over, Sun Art Retail has undergone a series of personnel and organizational changes.

In late May, RT-Mart announced the dissolution of its Central China operational district, restructuring its original five districts into four: East China, South China, North China and Northeast China. Under this adjustment, Hubei and Jiangxi from the former Central China district were merged into East China; Sichuan and Chongqing were merged into South China; and Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia and Qinghai were merged into North China. Zhuang Shuai, an advisor to the China Chain Store & Franchise Association, noted that eliminating relatively weaker regions can reduce costs while allowing greater focus on key areas, such as East and South China, which are RT-Mart’s strongholds.

Financial reports show that in fiscal year 2025, which ended on March 31, RT-Mart achieved an operating revenue of 71.552 billion Chinese yuan ($10.05 billion) and a net profit of 386 million yuan ($54.2 million), returning to profitability after three consecutive years of losses. As of the end of the last fiscal year, Sun Art Retail operated a total of 505 stores: 465 RT-Mart stores, 33 RT-Mart Super stores and seven M-member stores. Among them, 6.4% were located in first-tier cities, 18% in second-tier cities, 48.9% in third-tier cities, 19.4% in fourth-tier cities and 7.3% in fifth-tier cities.

Image: Pixabay

This article was translated from Chinese. Read the original article [5].