The McDonald’s Corporation said it plans on opening another 1,500 restaurants in China, Korea and Hong Kong during the next five years to unlock the growth potential of these fast-growing markets and help build on its turnaround efforts.

“Asia represents a significant area of opportunity for McDonald's to blend our global quality standards with local insights and expertise from partners who share our vision and values,” says Steve Easterbrook, McDonald’s president and CEO. “This will allow McDonald's to accelerate our growth and scale faster across diverse markets placing us closer to our customers and the communities we serve. We're in the midst of transforming our business and taking a strategic and thoughtful approach to enhance our ability to grow around the world. These actions build on our turnaround efforts and will advance local ownership, enable faster decision-making and achieve restaurant growth.”

China, Hong Kong and Korea collectively represent more than 2,800 restaurant locations, the majority of which are currently company-owned. Those countries are included within the company's High-Growth Markets, a segment which includes countries with relatively higher restaurant expansion and franchising potential As part of a way to advance growth in Asia, the company also recently announced its intent to identify strategic partners in Taiwan and Japan.