Japanese retailer Ryohin Keikaku plans to increase its Muji stores in China to 30 by the end of next year, despite the gloomy global economy, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing CEO Masaaki Kanai as saying.

The company sells products including clothing, stationery, bedding and kitchenware at its stores, targeting at middle-class consumers. It opened its first mainland outlet in Shanghai in 2005 and the 11th store in Beijing on Sunday, which is also the fifth one in the city.

China has offered the company an opportunity for relatively high profitability, and the pace of new store openings may soon surpass that in Japan, the CEO told reporters at the opening ceremony of the new store in Beijing.

The company currently provides 3,000 products of its 8,100 items in China and it plans to significantly boost the product lineup for consumers in the country, which may become a bigger market for Ryohin Keikahu than Japan in the future, he said.