CJ Olive Young, South Korea’s biggest drugstore chain operator, said Wednesday that it has opened its first Chinese store in Shanghai as part of efforts to expand its presence in the global market.

CJ Olive Young is an arm of CJ Group, South Korea’s food and entertainment conglomerate that operates 301 stores in the country and opened its first store in 1999.

The drugstore chain operator plans to launch its second and third Chinese store in Shanghai in the second half of the year.

CJ Olive Young said it will aggressively expand its overseas presence, as the local drugstor market has been already saturated.

The drugstore chain operator said it is keeping tabs on the market conditions in Vietnam and Indonesia in order to tap the market. (Yonhap News)