Chinese consumers may have more spending power, but they also have less time to cook: a perfect recipe for the growth of fast food in China, where western and Asian chains are battling over the increasing appetite for restaurant meals.
In urban China, high property prices, long commutes, gruelling working hours, a later marriage age and smaller families all add up to more fast food.
The country’s food service industry has recorded double-digit annual growth since 2003 but is still only half the size of the US market, says AlixPartners, a consulting firm in China. The industry, estimated at about Rmb2,000bn ($303bn) in 2009, is forecast to grow to about Rmb3,000bn by 2014, according to industry estimates.