McDonald's Corp expects China to be the engine of growth in the Asia Pacific over the next five years and predicts a good first quarter for same-store sales in the Asia, Middle East and Africa region.
The firm expects to have more than 2,000 stores in mainland China by the end of 2013 and 1,300 at the end of 2010, Tim Fenton, McDonald's president for Asia, Pacific, Middle East and Africa told Reuters.
"Asia, Middle East and Africa is the fastest growing area in the world and of that, China is the fastest growing country," Fenton said, adding that he plans to open a total 520 new stores in the region this year. McDonald's reported a better-than-expected 4.8 percent rise in February sales at established restaurants as Asia helped offset softness in the United States and Europe.
The firm is due to report its March sales on April 21. McDonald's said in January it expects to boost its capital investment in China by about a quarter this year and open 150 to 175 restaurants in the mainland to tap the growth of the world's third-largest economy.
McDonald's will roll out between 40-50 McCafes in China this year, up from the three it currently has to capitalise on the country's increasing taste for coffee.
McDonald's boom in China is due to its growing middle class affluence that has led to high growth in the fast food and casual dining industry, Fenton said.
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