Global eyewear maker and retailer Luxottica Group SpA today is launching a LensCrafters store in Beijing, as the Italian company expands in the Chinese eyewear market, The Wall Street Journal reported. The opening comes after a 100 million US dollars investment by Luxottica in retail in China during the past two years, including three acquisitions, following China's decision in January 2005 to allow foreign companies to own 100% of retail companies. Including its Sunglass Hut, Pearle Vision and LensCrafters chains, Luxottica is one of the largest eyewear retailers world-wide, said the paper. Luxottica, based in Milan, will try to differentiate itself from other chains by bringing its Western retail practices to its shops in China. According to London-based market researcher Euromonitor International, eyewear-industry sales in China more than doubled to 17.9 billion yuan (2.26 billion US dollars) in 2005 from 2000. That compares with a 4 percent increase to about 18 billion US dollars in the U.S. during the same period. Analysts said the move is a sensible one for Luxottica. As a vertically integrated company, it could have a strong advantage over retailers without manufacturing operations. The company has manufacturing operations in both Italy and China.