The first franchised KFC restaurant opened its doors last December 17, 2019, after the agreement between Yum China Holdings, Inc., China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec), and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) took effect.

The first KFC restaurant was opened in CNPC gas station located in Kunming, Yunnan Province. The second one was that situated in Sinopec gas station in Dalian, Liaoning Province which is scheduled to open by December 23, 2019.

Sinopec and CNPC have about 50,000 gas stations located within China. The report claimed that about 30,000 of these gas stations are owned by Sinopec while 20,000 others are that of CNPC. The partnership between these ventures was said to enable Yum China to boost its expansion. The same effect would be diversifying its portfolio in the market specifically, those that are concerned with highway service areas in China.

The cooperation agreement between the parties granted Yum China to utilize its robust store development pipeline. The company was said to open about 100 stores three years after the signing of the agreement and would follow different market models for each segment.

According to the CEO of Yum China Joey Wat, his company is delighted to work with Sinopec and CNPC. He claimed that the first gas station franchise and the restaurants to be established in each branch represents a milestone that would promote a long-term strategic partnership with both companies.

Wat added that parties to the agreement including Yum China are set at developing a successful business model that would prioritize innovative-driven growth in China.

Last October 2018, the report indicated that a pilot franchised KFC restaurant opened at one of the CNPC gasoline stations in Tangshan, Hebei Province. It was then revealed that within a few months, the restaurant was a success which paved the way for the parties to come into an agreement and take advantage of the opportunity. It was further discussed that the gas stations found working with Yum China as the operating management expertise for these projects to be a wise choice.

In other news, Nasdaq reported that Yum China had been focusing on the growth of its brand in the restaurant chain industry to boost their sales. It was then revealed that the company had opened about 819 restaurants in china and remodeled about 931 stores in 2018 alone.

It was also revealed that during the third quarter of 2019, Yum China had already opened about 231 new restaurants and remodeled about 126 stores in China showing that the company is experiencing favorable growth in the market.