IF you thought you had a tough job, meet Ian Longden. The 48-year-old Yorkshireman has been handed the hardest beat in retailing. He is trying to overturn centuries of tradition in just a couple of years – in the most price-sensitive market in the world – and he doesn’t even speak the language.

It was 9am on Cangzhou Road, in the Yaan Pu district of Shanghai last Tuesday: day one for Longden’s epic retail experiment. He stood outside the first Tesco Express mini-super-market in China and watched Chinese men as they peered at boiled eggs stewing in vats of black Chinese tea, while their wives prodded packets of pork mince to see if the meat was fresh.

Chinese consumers have taken to “big box” retailers, such as America’s Wal-Mart, France’s Carrefour, and Tesco itself, which has 55 hypermarkets across China from Beijing to Shenzhen.

When it comes to neighbourhood, convenience shopping, though, the Chinese still flock to traditional wet markets to buy fresh food, as they have done since time immemorial.

Longden, head of Tesco Express in China, wants to change all that. “We think we can create a new type of neighbourhood store in China by taking the guarantee of quality and consistency that a big western brand can bring and combining that with convenience and value for money,” he said.

There is a lot at stake. Britain’s biggest and most profitable grocer is lagging well behind Wal-Mart and Carrefour in the the world’s fastest-growing consumer market. Carrefour has twice as many hypermarkets as Tesco and nearly 200 discount stores – branded Dia – in China. Wal-Mart also has twice as many wholly owned hypermarkets and an interest in a further 102 Trust-Mart stores.

Tesco believes its dual-format approach will give it the edge. Ken Towle, head of the firm’s Chinese operations, who was in Shanghai last week to oversee the launch of Tesco Express, told The Sunday Times: “All around the world our research shows that customers tend either to be migrating to large shopping centres to do a big shop or they want the convenience of shopping locally and are prepared to accept an edited choice in order to be able to go round the corner. Here, we are giving them both.”

He is pinning his hopes on Tesco’s experience in Asian markets, notably Thailand. A decade after Tesco entered the Thai market, there are now 300 Express stores, outnumbering Tesco hypermarkets there by three to one.

Tesco is targeting the new and fast-growing group of cash-rich, time-poor Chinese consumers. China’s middle class is expanding by 20% a year and will increase spending on food by 17% a year in the next decade to £300 billion, according to the consultancy firm AT Kearney.

“There are enormous numbers of new consumers who want to grab something quickly on their way to or from work,” said Towle.

Tesco is also seeking to capitalise on growing consumer fears about food safety in China, following scares about pesticide poisoning and contaminated milk and meat. Some 500,000 Chinese suffer from pesticide poisoning every year. Signs in Tesco Express guarantee that pesticide levels are monitored and the store’s slogan is: “Fresh food you can trust”.

There are also typical Tesco consumer-friendly touches. On the opening day staff gave away a box of tissues – a luxury item – to anyone who signed up for a loyalty card; and staff offered to pump up the tyres of customers’ bicycles while they shopped.

If the new venture pays off, Towle said Tesco Express’s expansion would be “almost endless” in a retail market that is growing at 13% a year and is expected to expand from £215 billion to £300 billion by 2010, according to Euromonitor International, the market-research company.

He predicted the new smaller stores would help Tesco to catch up with, and eventually overtake, Wal-Mart and Carrefour. Company sources say Tesco is already planning to buy up Carrefour’s Dia discount stores – a Chinese equivalent of Aldi – and convert them into Tesco Express outlets.

Tesco, which last year spent £180m increasing its stake in its local partner, Tin Cao, to 90%, could spend up to £300m a year developing the new stores in China, according to analysts at Shore Capital, an investment bank.

It’s bullish stuff and a key plank of Tesco’s global plan to drive growth. Chief executive Sir Terry Leahy is investing more than half of group capital in its 12 overseas markets because Tesco already dominates Britain and needs to expand internationally if it is to keep growing.

However, the Chinese experiment comes at an awkward time. Analysts say food-price inflation is driving up the cost of Chinese staple goods – notably cooking oil, pork and rice – which will make it hard for Tesco to maintain price advantage.

More seriously, as the Tesco juggernaut rumbles into new territories, it is developing engine trouble. Earlier this month, it admitted that it had “paused” its ambitious £250m-a-year American expansion amid speculation that sales at the first stores on the West Coast were below expectations. The firm’s strategy there – as in China – is based on neighbourhood supermarkets, branded Fresh & Easy. Anecdotal evidence suggests that American consumers are confused by the idea of a halfway house between a giant hypermarket and a 7-11. Could the same happen in China?

Towle concedes that “there will always be points at which you have to take breath and check that what you are doing is right before forging on again. I am sure that what they will be doing in America is what we are doing here – taking stock of what the feedback has been and dealing with how they are going to respond.”

What do customers say? The queue at last week’s opening snaked round the block and many shoppers were impressed.

“The surroundings are good and I have been peeping at prices and the cooking oil is cheap,” said Renyi Bin, a 24-year-old trainee policeman, who emerged carrying two huge plastic bottles of vegetable oil.

“We want good quality,” said Putau Ying, 60, who used to work in a motorcycle factory. “We like brands from Europe and America. We know it’s strong. It is checked by inspectors.”

Wu Sha, a stylish 25-year-old, said she always bought her shampoo in western stores, like Tesco, “because I know it is not a fake”.

In a local wet market, however, where the delights on sale included live octopus and marinated cow placenta, many shoppers were less sure.

“I will not buy a dead fish,” said Xu Yu Ling, a 40-year-old metalworker. “How will I know how he died? Maybe he had illness. I want to see him alive first and kill him myself.”

Wang Ru, 35, complained that there was no mincer on the meat counter. “How do I know whether the meat is fresh if it is ground already? I want to see it ground so I can make sure. And where are the egg tarts?”

Back outside the Tesco Express, Longden made a mental note – “I need more tarts and mincers” – before bursting out laughing.

He may have the hardest job in retailing, but he has not lost his sense of humour.

Times Recommends

• Food prices rise 8.3% on soaring fish and meat
• Car sales crash as economy hits skids
• House prices fall but Bank leaves rates on hold