AMERICAN fast-food chain McDonald's said yesterday it would work closely with Chinese authorities to settle the dispute over its eviction from a prime site in the heart of Beijing.
'McDonald's looks forward to working in close co-operation with the Beijing municipal government to resolve the future of the Wangfujing McDonald's to our mutual satisfaction and benefit, and in a spirit of understanding and co-operation,' the company said.
'It would not be appropriate for us to speculate on the nature of that resolution until discussions are complete.' Beijing has ordered McDonald's to vacate its 28,000-square-foot site on the corner of Wangfujing Street and Chang An Avenue, at the entrance to Beijing's main shopping district, so that an enormous commercial and residential development called Oriental Plaza can be built by Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing.
McDonald's China Development Co's in-house counsel, Andrew Law, said yesterday that the group would probably meet with officials in Beijing next week.
Mr Law did not comment on a declaration last week by deputy secretary-general Chen Shudong saying that the row could be 'reasonably settled in accordance with the due process of law'.
He said: 'I have been instructed by the senior management to give all available information only after the meeting in Beijing.' Mr Chen told China-funded Ta Kung Pao that the eviction of McDonald's was not in breach of contract, adding that the hamburger chain had been offered a temporary location and could return to its original site on completion of the new complex in about three years.