Great news for fast food lovers on the mainland. Lai See's favourite company, McDonald's is pushing ahead with plans to open 100 stores a year there. Reuters news agency tipped us off about this important item. Some other media organisations have ignored or underplayed this news and so Lai See has decided to look at it in great detail.
Readers might recall McDonald's last week announced plans to close 175 stores and cut 400 to 600 jobs worldwide. Concerned about China, Reuters reporters called McDonald's Beijing office to be told: 'There has been no effect on our business . . . We are fully confident in McDonald's growth in China and will continue to develop our China business as planned.'
The plan for 100 new stores each year was announced in September.
The company now has more than 500 mainland outlets, up from 184 five years ago.
Fuelling the demand for burgers and fries is a perception that a dinner beneath the Golden Arches is a Western-style treat, rather than a low-cost option.
Prices are about the same as in Hong Kong, and so mainland customers are digging deeper into their incomes, relatively speaking, to munch on potato cakes and guzzle those delightful McDonald's flavoured ice shakes.