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Ron Ruggless
BEIJING Burger King reached a milestone this week with the grand opening of the chain’s 12,000th restaurant, the first in downtown Beijing.
Peter Tan, president of Burger King’s Asia-Pacific division, said the opening of the 25th Burger King in China “demonstrates our commitment to expanding our presence in China and throughout the entire Asia-Pacific region.”
The latest restaurant is in Beijing’s Joy City and is the first Burger King in the busy downtown Xidan area. Burger King has units in Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Xiamen and Suzhou.
“We opened more restaurants in the region in 2009 than during the last four years combined, and we plan to open even more new restaurants this year,” Tan said, adding that “we have significant growth potential for our brand in this particular market.”
Burger King in November opened a Whopper Bar BK spin-off in Singapore and plans to open another there in the next few months. China is a well known strong hold of quick-service competitor Yum! Brands Inc.
The new Beijing BK restaurant features an MP3 music corner that offers the latest music hits from the West and a gallery wall to display works by Sino-American artists and local arts groups. The franchised unit is operated by Burger King (Beijing) Restaurant Co. Ltd.
Burger King has units in 74 nations.
Contact Ron Ruggless at [email protected].
