McDonalds to double China restaurants by 2013

BUSINESS NEWS
DECEMBER 15, 2010 / 12:48 AM / UPDATED 11 YEARS AGO
McDonald’s to double China restaurants by 2013
By Fang Yan, Terril Jones
BEIJING (Reuters) – McDonald’s Corp MCD.N plans to double the number of its restaurants
in China to 2,000 by 2013, a senior executive said on Wednesday as it speeds up expansion in
the fastest growing major economy.
The top global fast food chain, which opened its first outlet in the southern boom town of
Shenzhen 20 years ago, is facing fierce competition with Yum Brands Inc YUM.N, the parent of
Pizza Hut and KFC, which has roughly 3,700 outlets in China.
But it has been intensifying its input, opening 165 new restaurants in the country this year,
with a plan to add up to 200 outlets in 2011.
China has been the fastest-growing market for McDonalds worldwide with regard to new
restaurant opening, its , Kenneth Chan, told reporters in Beijing.
It took us almost 19 years to reach 1,000 restaurants. We will get our next 1,000 restaurants
within three years.
To help attract more customers, the U.S. fast food giant has also began to update the image of
its outlets, featuring bright, warm colors along with soft, comfortable seating and simple but
fashionable interiors.
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Four restaurants in downtown Beijing have gotten a face-lift already, and 80 percent of its
outlets across China will be upgraded by 2013, Chan said.
In addition, half of all new McDonalds restaurants to be opened in the next three years in
China will feature Drive-Thrus to appeal to Chinas increasingly mobile population, he added.
McDonalds had in mid-November raised menu prices by 0.5 to 1 yuan, or 8 to 15 cents, in
mainland China to offset higher food costs.
Chan declined to say whether there would be further price hikes given Chinas rising annual
consumer inflation, which hit a 28-month high of 5.1 percent in November.
But he said McDonalds has been offering value meals, such as a 6-yuan breakfast and a 15-
yuan lunch, and will continue to do so in the future.
Editing by Ken Wills
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