Two decades ago the term ‘‘franchising'' was not part of the Chinese language. Although in per capita and GDP terms the Chinese franchise sector is still at an early development stage, China is today the most franchised country in the world in terms of number of systems. Franchising as a...

The introduction of the franchising concept by the fast food franchising pioneers was a necessary step in the development of franchising in China but not the only step. The concept of franchising was unknown to the law and, without official recognition or a regulatory framework, franchising...

Within a decade of the introduction of Deng Xiaoping 's 'open door• reforms which signaled the end of China's international isolation under Mao Zedong, franchising was introduced to China, in the late I980s, by the US franchising fast food pioneers KFC and McDonald's. However, it was the...

Since the "open door" policies adopted by China in 1978 ended 30 years of isolation, introduced massive economic and legal reforms, encouraged foreign investment and resurrected private enterprise, China has become the world's second largest and fastest growing economy. In these circumstances,...

China’s massive law reform program was originally driven by its “open door” policies and has been sustained by WTO accession and internationalisation. These reforms, in combination with franchise specific laws, have both legitimised and facilitated the development of a franchise sector in...