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Taco Bell to open first store in China

Taco Bell is betting that China is going to love tacos and burritos. Yum! Brands (YUM), which owns the Mexican fast food chain, plans to open its first store in China by the end of this year, said CEO Greg Creed at an industry conference in the U.S. on Tuesday.

Yum already operates over 7,000 restaurants in China, the majority of which are KFC and Pizza Hut outlets. For years, Yum Brands provided a shining example of what an American company could do in China, but the company has been plagued by a number of food safety scandals that damaged its reputation. Even with lackluster sales, and China’s looming economic slowdown, Yum still continues to plow ahead with expansion plans.

Last October, it announced it would spin off its China operations, instead running two distinct companies: Yum Brands and Yum China — which will be headed by a predominantly Chinese leadership team. Creed described on Tuesday the new division as “a China company with Western roots.”

(Source: CNN Money )