Retail

Wal-Mart takes on the Chinese government

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After being fined more than $9.8 billion in the last three years, Wal-Mart is speaking out against the Chinese government, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

Although in the U.S. it is mainly the manufacturer's responsibility to assure the quality of a good, in China, retailers are held accountable, the Journal said. But when regulating the country's food quality, the Chinese government typically goes after foreign companies, which have a bigger footprint than local stores, analysts told the publication.

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While most large companies try to fly below the radar, Wal-Mart is speaking up against the trend.

"It's not something you see often in China," China Market Research Group analyst Ben Cavender told The Journal.

Wal-Mart's fines include labeling meat as donkey, when it was actually fox, and using improper font sizes on packages, the report said.