Franchising opportunities in China for American fast food restaurants

The fast food industry is one of the fastest growing industries of this century. Global expansion has become an important strategic development tool for many American based fast food restaurant chains. American fast food franchisers wanting to operate restaurants in China have to be aware of an environment that imposes a number of constraints upon prospective restaurant franchisers. The goal of this paper is to analyze a range of factors, which may affect American restaurant operations in China. The environmental scanning model is used to identify social, economic, technological, competitive, and regulatory environmental factors. With more understanding of China's unique market characteristics, franchisers will be able to reduce some of the inherent risks they may encounter while investing in China.