Chen Shihong, Chief Information Officer (CIO) of McDonald's China, emphasized that over 90% of McDonald’s China’s orders now come from digital channels, with peak daily orders reaching millions. The platform boasts hundreds of millions of members, highlighting the crucial role of digital transformation for McDonald’s China.

McDonald’s China plans to invest 4 billion RMB in digital R&D and innovation over the next five years, marking a new phase in the company's digital journey. Since entering the “Golden Arches Era” in 2017, McDonald’s China has accelerated its digital transformation, building a fully local digital team and R&D center.

McDonald’s China’s technological innovations are primarily based on in-house development, covering multiple areas such as new retail in the foodservice industry, smart terminal platforms, smart restaurant equipment, big data platforms, and artificial intelligence (AI).

Today, McDonald's China’s digital strategy is anchored in three pillars: serving customers through digital channels, supporting restaurants via integrated systems, and providing solutions for the company through various application platforms.

In August, McDonald’s China announced a 4 billion RMB investment in digital R&D and innovation over the next five years, alongside the inauguration of a new tech R&D building in Nanjing. This seven-story building will serve as the company’s R&D headquarters. Regarding the 4 billion RMB investment, Chen Shihong explained that the focus will be on enhancing “in-house research and development capabilities,” accelerating the digital transformation from customer experience to enterprise management, and strengthening IT R&D.

McDonald's China’s digital team is also expanding, with the team now numbering in the hundreds. The new building will accommodate more than 450 engineers. McDonald's China encourages “mutual learning” within the organization, helping over 200,000 employees and more than 6,300 restaurants seamlessly adopt and master digital tools.

McDonald’s China is also taking a rational approach to emerging technologies like AI. The focus is not on the technology itself, but on understanding the underlying principles and application scenarios, and integrating them with the business. The company advocates a “learning organization” philosophy, encouraging cross-team knowledge-sharing to create greater value for customers, restaurants, and the enterprise.