Published : 2025-11-12

On 12 November 1987, the first Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) in the Chinese Mainland officially opened in Beijing.

Spanning three floors, this KFC restaurant had an area of 1,400 square metres. It could accommodate 500 seats, making it the world's largest KFC restaurant at the time.

According to the regulations at the time, if foreign companies wanted to enter the Chinese market, they had to form joint ventures with a Chinese Mainland enterprise. As the chicken supplier, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Animal Husbandry naturally became KFC's joint venture partner.

Later, with the help of the Tourism Administration, Colonel Sanders got a head start in China, making KFC the first American fast-food restaurant to enter China, three years ahead of McDonald's.

On the opening day, dozens of young women in traditional ethnic costumes performed traditional Chinese songs and dances with great effort in front of a banner that read "Grand Opening of America's Kentucky Fried Chicken" in Chinese, English and Japanese.

This was not only to celebrate the grand opening but also to mark a new milestone for China's Reform and Opening-up.