After joining the World Trade Organization on Dec 11, 2001, China's economy was set to undergo a significant change. Businesses were due to gain access to new export markets and foreign companies would be able to sell their products and services more freely to China's 1.3 billion people.

With such a large consumer base and rising income levels, the potential for China's underdeveloped and fragmented retail market was enormous.

Fast forward to 2011 and what has changed? In most major cities, China's retail market is almost unrecognizable, with the biggest impact seen in grocery retailing.