McDonalds 2002 Annual Report Download - page 10

W
hen China
reopened
its doors to
the Western
world in 1992, McDonald’s
was already there.
In 1990, we introduced
the McDonald’s experience
to the people of Mainland
China with our
first restaurant
in Shenzhen, one
of five special
economic zones.
Gradually, we ex-
panded our presence, work-
ing with suppliers to estab-
lish an infrastructure that
met our high-quality stan-
dards and could support
future growth.
We now are enjoying
the rewards of those invest-
ments. At year-end 2002,
we operated more than
540 restaurants in 23
Chinese provinces, and
we plan to significantly
increase our presence over
the next few years.
Our customer base
encompasses people of all
ages, and it is common to
find extended families—
kids, parents, grandparents
and great-grandparents—
enjoying McDonald’s meals.
In addition to serving tradi-
tional favorites, such as Big
Mac and McChicken sand-
wiches, we are appealing to
local taste pref-
erences with
the popular
Spicy Chicken
Filet Burger and
Spicy McWings.
From a profitability
perspective, our return on
investment in China has
risen from single digits in
1998 to low double digits in
2002. More importantly, we
expect returns to increase
further, as the standard of
living in China continues to
improve and we achieve
additional economies of
scale. Clearly, we are excited
about the enormous poten-
tial for profitable growth in
this country of 1.3 billion
people.
left Early morning cleanup at the Wangfujing McDonald’s
restaurant in Beijing, China. right Quiet moments before people
shopping for “treasures” arrive at Beijing’s Lotus Flower Market.
7:00 A.M.
we are appealing to
local taste preferences
with the popular
Spicy Chicken Filet Burger
and Spicy McWings
China
IT’S 7:00 A.M., and our
Wangfujing restaurant in
Beijing is just opening for
business. With cleanliness a
hallmark of McDonald’s,
it’s not unusual to find
crewpeople cleaning the
front steps of any debris
that may have accumulated
overnight, while others are
busy preparing Chicken
McNuggets and hamburgers
for our morning customers.
Although we do not serve
a breakfast menu through-
out China, we still rise
early to serve up smiles
and ring up sales. Ni hao!