Chung Yong-jin, vice chairman of E-mart parent Shinsegae Group, said the retailer will close its six supermarkets in China once the leases expire, the Nikkei reported. (http://s.nikkei.com/2rqnJ1z)

E-mart will be the first South Korean company to exit China since February, when a dispute flared over Seoul's deployment of the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defence missile defence system, the business daily said.

E-mart entered the Chinese market in 1997, expanding to 26 stores before shutting some of them due to growing pressure from local supermarket chains.

(Reporting By Shashwat Pradhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza)