Gap opens Hong Kong flagship, eyes China growth.

The store will be Gap’s ninth in the Greater China region, and will span more than 15,000 square feet over four floors on Queens Road in Hong Kong’s burgeoning Central District. It will feature collections from Gap, GapKids, babyGap and GapBody.

“Opening in Hong Kong is a momentous occasion and demonstrates Gap Inc’s continued commitment to make our optimistic American style more readily available to Chinese consumers,” said Redmond Yeung, president of Gap Greater China.

“Based on the demand levels we’ve experienced through e-commerce sales over the last year, we know that Hong Kong consumers have a strong appetite for Gap’s affordable, high-quality and uniquely American fashion.”

Gap celebrated its first anniversary in China this month, and during this time has expanded to four stores in Shanghai and four in Beijing. In addition to Hong Kong, the company will open new stores in Shanghai, HangZhou and Tianjin over the coming weeks.

Since launching a local ecommerce site last year, online orders have been logged from over 330 cities in China, covering all parts of the country.

The company expects to grow the fleet to about 45 stores in China by the end of fiscal 2012 — up from the 15 it will have at the end of this year.

For major markets such as China, the company typically enters with brand-building flagship stores, followed by Outlet and smaller stores in outlying areas and an online expression of the brand.

“We’re very optimistic about our entry into Hong Kong and believe it’s a natural next step for our expansion strategy in China, especially given its international relevance as a gateway to the fashion world,” added Stephen Sunnucks, president of Gap Inc International.