Fast Food Becomes a Two-Way Bridge Between US and China

China and the United States may be at odds over tariffs, technology and Taiwan, but fast food is quietly linking the two economies. American restaurant and beverage chains are expanding rapidly across China, drawn by a potential customer base four times the size of the US population. At the same time, China's sluggish economy and fierce domestic competition are pushing Chinese chains to try their luck in the US, turning burgers and bubble tea into a two-way cultural bridge.

Market researcher Yaling Jiang, founder of ApertureChina, describes this as business- and consumer-led gastrodiplomacy. Recent American arrivals such as Popeyes and Five Guys are seen in China as a guilty pleasure, she said, while increasingly international American palates have created room for Chinese brands to act as unofficial ambassadors. "Consumerism builds a safe, introductory channel for contemporary Chinese culture and can be a great way to elevate China's soft power," Jiang said.

The White House has not disclosed the menu for the state dinner President Donald Trump is hosting for Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday. Both leaders have shown a taste for casual, crowd-pleasing food. Xi made a rare public visit to a steamed-bun restaurant in Beijing in 2013, ordering a 21-yuan meal of pork-and-scallion buns, vegetables and stewed pork liver and intestines. Trump's fondness for fast food is well known; he worked a fry station at a Pennsylvania McDonald's during his 2024 campaign.

Last month, customers lined up in the rain for the opening of Shanghai's first Church's Texas Chicken, with the chain planning at least 600 more outlets across China. Wendy's expects to open 1,000 restaurants there over the next decade. McDonald's plans 1,000 new Chinese locations this year and 10,000 by 2028, while Burger King, present in China since 2005, aims to triple its store count to 4,000 by 2035.

"Despite political tensions between the US and China, Chinese actually still go crazy for American brands," said Shaun Rein, founder of the Shanghai-based China Market Research Group. KFC became the first major American fast-food chain to enter mainland China with a Beijing restaurant in 1987, then seen as a premium destination. McDonald's and Pizza Hut followed in 1990. "McDonald's and KFC were a beacon of health and hygiene compared to what you had in the rest of the market," Rein said. China is now KFC's largest market, with about 13,000 restaurants compared with roughly 3,750 in the US.

Much of China's population lives in smaller inland cities where brands like McDonald's and Starbucks are expanding, said Sory Park of Daxue Consulting. But China is no cakewalk for foreign firms. Most American chains rely on Chinese partners to find locations and share financial risk, and earlier this year a Chinese investment firm acquired a 60% stake in Starbucks' China operation after several years of falling store traffic. Many chains tailor menus to local tastes; KFC in China serves egg tarts and congee alongside fried chicken.

In the other direction, Mixue, one of the world's largest fast-food chains with more than 53,000 locations, opened its first three US stores in December. New York customers waited in the cold to sample soft-serve ice cream, fruit teas and milk tea with toppings like coconut jelly and taro balls at a Herald Square outlet. Mixue has announced at least two dozen more planned US locations across four states. At least nine other mainland Chinese chains have made their US debuts since 2023, mostly focused on drinks and snacks, including Heytea with 40 US locations and Luckin Coffee, which overtook Starbucks as China's biggest coffee brand and has 20 New York stores.

Wallace, founded in 2000, grew to more than 20,000 restaurants selling American-style chicken and hamburgers in China. In California, where its second US outlet opened last month, the company tweaked its chicken sandwich recipe for American diners. Before entering the US, many major Chinese food-and-beverage chains expanded in Southeast Asia. A real estate slump and weak consumer spending made growth harder at home; the average lifespan of China's 16 million restaurants and chains was expected to fall to 15 months last year, according to a US government report. The American restaurant industry is smaller, with 1 million locations, per the National Restaurant Association.

Jiang sees another advantage for Chinese brands: a social media trend called "Chinamaxxing," in which Westerners adopt Chinese lifestyle habits or wellness practices. Not every brand makes its origins clear. Wallace's US website and social media pages do not mention its Chinese ownership or headquarters in Fujian province, and the company did not respond to an email.

Chinese brands remain largely unproven stateside. Even chains with thousands of locations elsewhere are testing whether novelty can translate into loyalty. The US is too lucrative to ignore, said Aaron Allen, founder of restaurant consulting firm Aaron Allen and Associates. It accounts for one-third of global restaurant revenue despite having only about 4% of the world's population. "The grass is always greener somewhere else in the world," Allen said.

While American brands can carry a premium image in China, many Chinese brands compete heavily on price. At a Mixue in Hollywood this week, a medium matcha latte cost $6.83, while a nearby Starbucks sold the same drink for almost $1 more. Wallace sells three full-size chicken sandwiches for $10. "The Chinese can build stuff cheaper and faster. Why would that not apply to food?" Allen said. But he warned Chinese brands could face customer backlash or higher tariffs if they undercut US rivals with low-cost Chinese imports, and possible US scrutiny over customer data collection.

Luckin Coffee co-founder and CEO Jinyi Guo told investors in February that the US "represents one of our important long-term opportunities" and the company was proceeding "with great patience and discipline."