Shenzhen Costco store scheduled to open in January

Costco's Longhua store.

Costco Wholesale Corp., a U.S.-based warehouse retailer, is scheduled to officially open its first South China outlet in Shenzhen in January.

Located in Longhua District, the store, covering a total construction area of 44,500 square meters, will be the sixth Costco store in China. This membership-only mega-mart is spacious compared with average supermarket, with a shopping area of 15,000 square meters. It plans to offer roughly 4,000 items, with the majority being imported. A one-year membership costs 299 yuan, with a 100-yuan discount being offered at present.

A discount warehouse club chain similar to U.S. retail giant Walmart's Sam's Club, Costco is now operating more than 850 stores globally and has more than 100 million members.

When Costco's first physical store in China opened its doors in Shanghai in August 2019, the influx of shoppers was overwhelming to the point of shutting down traffic early on its first day.