BEIJING - FAST food giant KFC is planning to open around 370 outlets in China this year, with the firm boosted by growing local sales, while revenues fall at home in the US, state media said on Wednesday.
'KFC has and (been) will be opening at least one more store everyday' this year, said Han Jilin, vice president of the China division of Yum!, KFC's parent, according to the China Daily.
The move will mark KFC's most ambitious expansion in China since its entry into the country in 1987, the report said.
The food retailer has already opened more than 240 outlets since the beginning of the year and inaugurated store number 2,600 in the central city of Zhengzhou on Tuesday, the paper said.
In its financial report for the first quarter, Yum! said sales per store in China increased by two per cent, compared with a two-per cent drop in the United States, the report said.
'China is KFC's fastest and most important market worldwide. The confidence has been growing stronger,' the report quoted Sam Su, president of Yum! China Division, as saying.
The confidence is well bolstered by robust domestic consumption, it said, with retail sales in the country rising 15.2 per cent year on year last month thanks to Beijing's US$580 billion (S$845 billion) stimulus package unveiled in November. -- AFP
