SOUTH Korea's Lotte Department Store said yesterday it plans to open its second store in Tianjin in 2012 to focus on emerging markets.

The No.2 Tianjin outlet will mark Lotte's fourth store in China, the retailer said.

While the Beijing outlet has already been launched, stores in Tianjin and Shenyang are awaiting official launches in April next year and 2013.

The company said there will be as many as 20 Lotte stores in China by 2018.

Lotte is South Korea's largest department store chain and the third largest discount chain operator.