The Shanghai Environmental Department has published a blacklist of 721 companies accused of environmental violations and the list is reported to include many famous organizations.

The international environmental group Greenpeace has released its latest "Supermarket List for China" which shows that foreign-funded supermarkets such as Wal-Mart, Tesco, and Ito-Yokado rank at the bottom of the list in terms of green initiatives.

Greenpeace recently published a report on pesticide residues in vegetables and fruit in China, which shows five kinds of fruit and vegetables contained extremely poisonous pesticide and produce sold in supermarkets contain higher level of pesticide residue than those sold in agricultural markets.

Electronic video displays are to be installed in 150 shopping malls and supermarkets and 19 large wholesale markets in Beijing by the end of this year to publish goods and food information.

According to reports in local media, more than ten instant bean vermicelli products from Baijia have been removed from the shelves of major supermarkets in Shijiazhuang, due to the similarity of its trademark with that of Baixiang, another Chinese instant food maker.

According to a representative from the international supermarket chain Metro, the company's two outlets in Wuhan will stop selling plastic shopping bags from 2009, making Metro the first plastic-free supermarket in the city.

International retailing giant Tesco has opened a new store in Tieling in northeast China which is reportedly the first energy-saving Tesco outlet in the region.