Suning Appliance Co Ltd<002024>, a major electronics retailer in China, yesterday announced its expansion plan for China and Japan, Reuters reported.

Suning plans to increase its total number of shops by more than half, adding 520 new stores in China this year, said Sun Weimin, president of Suning.

The expansion plan also includes three stores in Japan, said Sun.

In 2009, the electronics appliance retailer opened 182 chain stores in 22 Chinese cities and closed 53 stores. By the end of 2009, the retailer had 941 stores in more than 200 cities in China.

The company last year acquired a controlling stake of 27.36% in Japan's Laox for US$8.39 million. It has the option to raise its shareholding to 29.33%.

Suning's net profit for last year was RMB 2.88 billion, up 32.79% year on year.