Jia Qinglin, secretary of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China, said the city welcomed international food giants.
In a meeting with Jack M. Greenberg, chairman and chief executive officer of McDonald's, the American burger chain, Jia said McDonald's had set up 84 outlets in China's capital in the past ten years, and played an active role in Beijing's economic and social development.
He said that the arrival of the food giants would bring advanced management systems and marketing strategies to the local food sector.
Greenberg expressed appreciation for Beijing Municipal Government's support for McDonald's development in the city, saying that Beijing was a great city with vast market potential.
He also said that the company's success could be attributed to the contribution of its local employees around the world.
McDonald's has 38,000 employees in China, and creates about 10,000 job opportunities in the country every year.
In 1990, McDonald's opened its first outlet in China. To date, 475 outlets have been set up in 74 Chinese cities. McDonald's have invested US$900 million in China.
(People's Daily June 25, 2002)
