There’s little doubt that China will be one of the big investment stories of the next few decades. Thanks to Deng Xiaoping’s
economic reforms, which consigned communist economics to the dustbin of history, in the last three decades China has been transformed from a backward economy into arguably the world’s manufacturing powerhouse.
But many people are, quite understandably, rather nervous about investing in China. Corruption is rampant, corporate governance favours insiders whilst the rule of law is often arbitrary and property rights can be very insecure. Consequently many investors prefer to invest in China via non-Chinese companies which do business with and/or in China.
One such firm is the American corporation Yum! Brands (Yum). Whilst Yum isn’t a well-known name in Britain its two main businesses most definitely are; Yum owns KFC, formerly known as Kentucky Fried Chicken (“it’s finger lickin’ good”), and Pizza Hut.