KFC in China

Kentucky Fried Chicken
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryRestaurants
GenreFast food restaurant
FoundedFirst franchise:
November 12, 1987 (1987-11-12)
Qianmen, Beijing, China
Number of locations
over 12,600 (2025)
Key people
Joey Wat (CEO of Yum China)
Products
RevenueUS$7.219 billion (2022)
ParentYum China
Websitewww.yumchina.com
www.kfc.com.cn
(Chinese KFC website)

Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC; Chinese: 肯德基; pinyin: Kěndéjī), an American fast food restaurant chain specializing in fried chicken, has operated in China since 1987. Its first location opened in Zhengyangmen, Beijing, and KFC now operates over 11,900 outlets in more than 2,300 cities across China as a subsidiary of Yum China as of March 2025. According to research by Millward Brown, KFC was the most powerful foreign brand in China in 2013.