McDonald's Corp, the world's largest fast-food chain, said on Tuesday it plans to dramatically increase its presence in China, adding another 100 stores every year.
"Given the progress we have made in China today, we expect to build more than 100 stores every year," McDonald's China Development Co. said in a statement.
The company aims to achieve these growth rates by introducing its franchising model in China, according to local media.
Peter Tan, president of McDonald's China Development, told the Beijing Youth Daily that the company plans to introduce franchising in China in 2003.
McDonald's, which first entered the Chinese market in 1990, had 368 stores in the country at the end of June this year, an increase of 96 from the year before.
That makes China the chain's third-most important market in the Asia Pacific after Japan and Australia in terms of number of restaurants.
(China Daily 08/29/2001)
