China and the United States are divided on many issues, from tariffs and technology to Taiwan. But there is one thing tying them together: fast food.
American restaurant and beverage chains are expanding rapidly in China, drawn by the potential customer pool in a country with four times the US population.
China’s languishing economy and cutthroat industry competition, meanwhile, have Chinese chains trying their luck in the US, turning crumbs and straws into a two-way cultural bridge between the two superpowers.
The bilateral trade in burgers and bubble tea is business- and consumer-led gastrodiplomacy in action, said Yaling Jiang, the founder of ApertureChina, a market research company with headquarters in Shanghai and London.
In China, recent American arrivals like Popeyes and Five Guys are seen as a guilty pleasure, she said, while the increasingly international palates of Americans have created space for Chinese brands to serve as their nation’s unofficial ambassadors.
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