Milestones

November 1987: KFC enters the Chinese mainland and opens the first store in Beijing, which marks the beginning of China's fast food industry.

December 1989: Shanghai Ronghua Chicken, China's first domestic fast food brand, opens its first store in the eastern city.

October 1990: McDonald's makes its first foray into the mainland, opening its first store in Shenzhen.

1993: Lihua Fast Food is launched. Now it is one of the major domestic brands, with 80-odd stores in China's 11 cities as of 2007.

1995: Malan Noodles is established. It is the largest chain in China, opening 412 stores by 2007.

October 1995: China sends the first batch of inspectors to Japan to look at the fast food industry there. A second team goes to Hong Kong in May 1997.

1996: China issues China Fast Food Development Guidelines, defining fast food.

September 1998: The first fast food research and development center is set up in Heilongjiang province.

September 2001: The Fast Food Committee under the China Cuisine Association is launched.

March 2003: Hong Kong Caf De Coral signs a share transfer agreement with Shanghai New Asia Dabao, purchasing the latter's 50 percent shares, which spurs the M&A wave in the industry.

September 2005: Lihua Fast Food invests 3 million yuan and sets up the first standardized factory, introducing an automatic production line, which signals a shift by the domestic brands toward standardization.

March 2007: Ajisen Ramen is listed in Hong Kong, the first IPO case among the domestic brands. Now many others including Lihua Fast Food and Daniang Dumpling are preparing for listings.

(China Daily 06/30/2008 page2)