MCDONALD'S Corp, the world's largest restaurant chain, said it plans to hire 75,000 new employees in China this year as the company accelerates store expansion in the world's most populous country.

The new hiring represents an increase of as much as 83 percent of the Oak Brook, Illinois-based company's workforce in the Asian nation. McDonald's has more than 90,000 employees in China currently, the company said in e-mailed statement yesterday.

Restaurant chains such as McDonald's and Burger King Worldwide Inc are accelerating store openings in China as rising incomes and busy lifestyles boost demand for quick meals in the world's second-largest economy. China's chained fast-food industry will probably expand 14 percent to 115.1 billion yuan (US$18.7 billion) this year from 2012, according to researcher Euromonitor International.

McDonald's plans to increase the number of outlets on the mainland by 300 to 2,000 this year. The Big Mac seller opened 256 stores in the Asian nation in 2012.

The new positions unveiled yesterday will be mostly store staff and 2,000 jobs will be for coffee baristas at its McCafe outlets, the company said.