XINING -- Fast-food giant McDonald's opened its first restaurants in Northwest China's Ningxia Hui autonomous region and Qinghai province this weekend, extending the brand's presence to all provincial-level regions of the Chinese mainland.

On Saturday, McDonald's announced its entry into Yinchuan, the capital of Ningxia, with the opening of three restaurants in the city's core business districts.

The first McDonald's store in Qinghai opened on Sunday in the Haihu New District of Xining, the provincial capital. The drive-through restaurant spans a total floor area of over 700 square meters and has more than 200 seats.

McDonald's officially entered the Chinese mainland market in October 1990, opening its first restaurant in Shenzhen in the southern Guangdong province. In 2017, the company entered a strategic partnership with CITIC Limited, CITIC Capital and the Carlyle Group.

Data from McDonald's China shows that as of November 2025, McDonald's had opened over 7,500 restaurants in more than 280 prefecture-level cities on the Chinese mainland, employing over 200,000 people.