E-Mart has virtually completed pulling out of China. 

The South Korean retail giant said Friday that the Chinese government gave the green light to its plan to sell its five stores in Shanghai to Thailand’s Charoen Pokphand(CP) Group, adding the sale process has been finalized. 

Since the company made inroads into China in 1997, it had grown to operate around 30 shops across the country, but has suffered from mounting losses for years. 

The company’s cumulative operating deficit in China since 2013 surpassed 150 billion won, including 21-point-six billion won last year alone.