US and Chinese fast-food chains open outlets in each other's markets

U.S. and Chinese fast-food chains are opening outlets in each other's markets. Chinese customers lined up in the rain for Church's Texas Chicken's first Shanghai store last month; New York customers waited in the cold outside Mixue in Herald Square for soft-serve, fruit teas and milk tea with coconut jelly and taro balls. Established U.S. brands are adding large China footprints while Mixue, Heytea (40 U.S. locations), Luckin Coffee (20 in New York) and Wallace (second U.S. store in California last month, with a tweaked chicken sandwich) expand the other way. A Chinese firm took a 60% stake in Starbucks' China operation earlier this year after falling traffic. Yaling Jiang said consumerism builds a safe, introductory channel for contemporary Chinese culture and can elevate China's soft power. Shaun Rein said that despite political tensions Chinese still go crazy for American brands, and that McDonald's and KFC were once a beacon of health and hygiene. Sory Park said chains need to operate like a Chinese company but deliver American menus that incorporate Chinese values, eating habits and tastes. Xi Jinping waited in line at a Beijing bun restaurant in 2013; Donald Trump manned a fry station at a McDonald's in Pennsylvania during the 2024 campaign. Contested: none found. Coverage is center/wire only. Further store openings are the next markers.