Burger King takes aim at Chinese market

Burger King said it has put together a deal to open 1,000 restaurants in China by the end of 2019. There are currently 63 Burger King outlets in China, putting it far behind McDonald's, which has 1,500 outlets in the Asian country. In turn, McDonald's is dwarfed by YUM Brands, which has almost 4,000 restaurants in China, The Miami Herald reported Saturday. The expansion involves exclusive development rights in China awarded to the Kurdoglu family of Turkey and the Cartesian Capital Group, a New York private equity firm. The Kurdoglu family, as TAB Gida, already runs 450 Burger King restaurants, all of them outside the United States. With the deal to add 1,000 outlets in China, it will leapfrog over the Carrols Corp., which owns 574 Burger King franchises worldwide, making it currently the largest Burger King operator.