London's world-famous Harrods store is to be given a 268 million U.S. dollars makeover to attract more Chinese shoppers.

The revamp will be the biggest and most ambitious in the luxury store's history, its owners have confirmed.

A key aim of the project is to appeal to Chinese customers who are already Harrods' second-highest spenders after British shoppers, managing director Michael Ward said in media interviews on Friday.

Ward said: "This ambitious store development, the most comprehensive in Harrods history, will invest in some of our most exciting retail divisions and redesign our store around the expectations of our discerning global customer base."

The store boss added that Chinese customers are extremely important to Harrods and considered part of their redevelopment plans.

"For us the future is in the east and we have been focusing on that for a number of years," added Ward, adding research had shown that one in every five pounds that Chinese visitors spend in London is spent at Harrods.

One thing that won't change is the famous exterior of the store with its 12,000 light bulbs and green awnings.

Harrods was founded by Charles Henry Harrod as a small shop mainly selling tea. It has grown into one of the best-known shops in the world and attracts more than 15 million visitors every year.

Harrods recently reported its annual sales had broken through the 2-billion pounds mark (2.67 billion U.S. dollars) for the first time.