By staff reporter He Huafeng and intern reporter Zhang Xin

A fashionable two-story in a hot Beijing entertainment district has been chosen for the first Apple Inc. retail store in China.

The U.S. electronics company was set to open the Sanlitun district outlet July 19 as part of its effort to improve market penetration in the world’s second-largest personal computer market. A second store in Beijing’s Qianmen area was expected to open later.

Shelves at the new stores were expected to showcase the company’s iMac, MacBook, MacBook Air and iPod products. But the popular iPhone mobile device will be conspicuously absent -- at least for now.

Currently the iPhone is not commercially available on the mainland. One reason is that Apple and China Mobile failed last year to reach an agreement that would have introduced the device to the Chinese market. Negotiations broke down after China Mobile rejected Apple’s demand to share iPhone-related revenues.

But the waiting game may end soon for potential iPhone customers in China. Apple CEO Steve Jobs said he expects to begin iPhone sales in the country by the end of this year, after announcing in June that the new iPhone with 3G technology would not share revenue with mobile phone operators.

Although Apple has been in China for 20 years, the mainland accounts for less than 1 percent of the company’s global sales. It’s hoped the Beijing stores will strengthen Apple’s presence in the booming market.

Meanwhile, Apple is trying to improve management of a Chinese sales network that’s considered disorganized -- and a reason why product prices can vary greatly from one area to another.

Like any of the more than 200 Apple stores worldwide, the Beijing shop will offer technical support, repairs and customer training.