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Daniel Ren

Yum China Holdings, the operator of KFC and Pizza Hut in mainland China, plans to open as many as 1,800 new stores in 2025, maintaining an expansion pace set last year to tap lower-tier cities for growth amid a slow economy.
The fast-food company revealed its plans while reporting that 2024 sales increased 5 per cent from a year earlier to US$11.3 billion, which was in line with market expectations.
“There are still a lot of opportunities for us to open stores both in top-tier and lower-tier cities,” CEO Joey Wat said during a briefing on Thursday. Yum China would focus on smaller Chinese cities with “lower investment, smaller menus and a simpler operating model”, she added.
The strategy comes as mainland consumers, spooked by China’s lingering deflation, have been tightening their purse strings over the past two years and are expecting darker days ahead amid the prospect of a trade war with the US following the return of President Donald Trump to the White House.
About half of Yum’s budgeted capital expenditure of US$700 million to US$800 million for this year would be used for new store openings, it said.
“The company’s focus on value for money is unchanged, supported by various promotions,” Deutsche Bank analyst Han Zhang said in a research note. Yum was reluctant to provide guidance for same-store sales growth in 2025 given that consumer spending might turn cautious amid “macroeconomic uncertainties”, he added.
In its guidance for net new store openings, Yum said a total 1,600 to 1,800 outlets would be added in 2025, compared with 1,751 last year. In the fourth quarter of 2024, it opened 534 new stores.
At the end of 2024, the company ran 16,395 stores across the mainland, and Wat said the number would exceed 20,000 by 2026.

Yum reported net income of 30 US cents per share for the three months ending December, up 30 per cent on year. Per-share earnings for 2024 hit an all-time high of US$2.33, up 18 per cent from the previous year.
The company’s board declared a 50 per cent increase in its cash dividend for the fourth quarter, raising it to 24 US cents a share, from 16 US cents in the same period of 2023.
The company adopted a new growth strategy focused on providing value for budget-conscious consumers and expanding into untapped areas in 2023.
“Our dual focus on operational efficiency and innovation yielded excellent results, laying a solid foundation for future growth,” Wat said. “Our innovative measures, from menu evolution to the introduction of breakthrough business models like KCoffee Cafes and Pizza Hut Wow, have expanded our addressable market and increased our market share.”
The country’s consumer market was likely to stage a recovery this year amid Beijing’s proactive fiscal policies and distribution of retail vouchers by local governments, a joint study by global consultancy Bain & Company and market research firm Kantar Worldpanel said in December.
But the turnaround would be modest, as it would take time for economic fundamentals to improve and consumer confidence to return, they said.
Yum China was once a trailblazer among Western fast-food giants in tapping the Chinese market, but now it competes against a packed field of local and international rivals.
KFC’s chicken burgers were viewed as luxury cuisine by Chinese consumers when the brand landed on the mainland in 1987. Now, KFC recognises that its competition is every restaurant that offers meals priced at about 30 yuan (US$4.12).
Yum China also operates other brands including Little Sheep, Taco Bell and Lavazza.


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The company plans to add up to 1,800 new stores in 2025, maintaining a pace set last year to tap potential in lower-tier cities


The company plans to add up to 1,800 new stores in 2025, maintaining a pace set last year to tap potential in lower-tier cities.


KFC China operator Yum to continue opening spree, value-menu push

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The company plans to add up to 1,800 new stores in 2025, maintaining a pace set last year to tap potential in lower-tier cities

The company plans to add up to 1,800 new stores in 2025, maintaining a pace set last year to tap potential in lower-tier cities