McDonald's announced an Asia expansion on Thursday, saying it plans to open 1,500 restaurants in China, Hong Kong, and South Korea over the next five years.
The burger giant's president, Steve Easterbrook, said in a
McDonald's news release that the company will seek out "strategic partners" in Asia to help "unlock growth potential" on the continent. China, Hong Kong, and South Korea already have 2,800 McDonald's restaurants.
"Asia represents a significant area of opportunity for McDonald's to blend our global quality standards with local insights and expertise from partners who share our vision and values," Easterbrook said. "This will allow McDonald's to accelerate our growth and scale faster across diverse markets placing us closer to our customers and the communities we serve."
CNBC noted McDonald's is already serving customers around the world with more than 36,000 locations in more than 100 countries. Consumers in the United States, though, remain the chain's biggest customers, being served at more than 14,000 restaurants and generating 32 percent of its worldwide revenue.
McDonald's had announced it was closing 90 restaurants in China last year in an overall plan to shut down 350 restaurants there, in Japan and in the United States, according to the
Wall Street Journal. In 2014, problems with one of his supplies left some outlets without chicken and hamburgers for its customers, added the Journal.
"McDonald's, which is aiming for China to be fully franchised, has had trouble finding collaborators in Asia," said the Journal. "It announced last year plans to sell its restaurants in Taiwan and Japan to a franchise operator but hasn't yet closed a deal. Mr. Easterbrook said McDonald's is in the early stages of identifying the right partners."