GS Shop, South Korea’s top home shopping company, said Monday that it will acquire a stake in a Chinese industry player in an effort to tap into the world’s second-largest economy.

GS Shop said it signed an agreement with China Home Shopping Group, which offers home shopping service across China, to buy a 20 percent stake for $40 million and cooperate on broad managerial issues.

“The contract will pave the way for South Korean small and medium enterprises to make inroads into China, the largest consumer market in the world,” GS Shop said.

GS Shop said the stake purchase is part of its efforts to build a home shopping network linking Asian countries.

The company entered the Indian home shopping market in late 2009 and established a Thai operation last year. It also set up shop in Vietnam in March. 

(Yonhap News)