JAPANESE bookstore chain Tsutaya will open a branch in Chengdu, capital of Southwest China’s Sichuan Province, after market research was conducted last December.

According to a strategic cooperation framework agreement drafted in early January with Chengdu Rail Transit Group, Tsutaya is expected to participate in the group’s transit-oriented development (TOD) projects in the city, which enables more advanced mobility, urban planning and facility management of stations along Chengdu metro lines.

Tsutaya will make customized plans based on the TOD projects and open bookstores to cultivate cultural consumers in the city, the agreement said.

Chengdu, well-positioned at the forefront of TOD development, is creating a new economic model and new options for shoppers by luring in global businesses. The city has already seen the launch of 14 demonstration projects since last year.

“It is the first international cooperation program in the commercial operation of TOD,” said Liu Shichuan with Chengdu Rail Transit Group, noting that the two sides shook hands on the deal in mid-March and finished a “cloud signing” of the agreement.

With its flagship store in Daikanyama in Tokyo named one of the 20 most beautiful bookstores in the world by culture website Flavorwire, Tsutaya now runs more than 1,400 bookstores in Japan and has branches planned in Shanghai and Hangzhou.

(Xinhua)