A customer shows a self-made burger at McDonald's first Experience of the Future restaurant in Beijing.(Photo/China Daily)
McDonald's has unveiled its first Beijing custom-burger joint in a bit to reestablish itself with fast-food savvy Chinese.
The newly-furnished restaurant in downtown Beijing's Wangfujing shopping district has a buffet-style counter from which diners can choose from bread, meat patties, vegetables and dressings to create their own burgers.
McDonald's opened the first custom-burger restaurant in Shanghai in June last year and now boasts 11 in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen as part of its campaign to remain competitive in China's increasingly crowded fast food scene.
China is now McDonald's third largest market with 2,230 restaurants. It opens between 200 and 250 new restaurants each year, according to Phyllis Cheung, CEO of McDonald's China on Wednesday.
Cheung added that expansion in China this year will focus on third- and fourth-tier cities.
Compared with more than a decade ago, when Yum! Brands' KFC and McDonald's dominated China's fast food sector, the market is saturated with domestic and foreign companies. In addition, growing public awareness of food safety and health is forcing fast food chains to readjust their business strategies.
Yum! Brands, which owns KFC and Pizza Hut, last year announced it would spin-off of its volatile Chinese business and upscale some of its KFC and Pizza Hut restaurants to recapture interest.
McDonald's has also teamed with Chinese internet firm Tencent in providing digital ordering and payment service through its popular instant messaging app WeChat and developed interactive games for children in the new Beijing restaurant.
