MCDONALD'S Corp said about 40 percent of its proposed new store openings in China this year will be drive-through restaurants.

Drive-throughs have become one of the company's fastest growing sectors in China, the world's largest auto market, though it usually takes longer for such outlets to secure land, Kenneth Chan, chief executive of McDonald's China, said today in Shanghai.

The fast food chain said last month it plans to open 225-250 stores in China this year after opening a record 200 outlets in 2011. The expansion will be underpinned by a 50 percent increase in investment in the country, McDonald's has said.

Chan today declined to give specific investment figures and said part of the new openings will be located in airports and high-speed railway stations.

McDonald's has more than 1,400 outlets on the Chinese mainland, compared with KFC's more than 3,200.

McDonald's in 2010 sold 200 million yuan (US$31.8 million) of yuan-denominated dim sum bonds in Hong Kong to fund growth.
 

Source:shanghaidaily