US-based restaurant brand Subway, which opened its 1,000th store in China earlier this year, is making steady progress toward its ambitious goal of reaching 4,000 stores in the country over the next two decades.

The company's top executive expressed strong confidence in Subway's future in China, which he considers one of the brand's most important markets globally and the biggest opportunity in Asia.

"China is probably top on the list in terms of the most important strategic markets for us. China is a fast growing market for us and one of the most important markets in the world for us," Jonathan Fitzpatrick, global CEO of Subway, said in an exclusive interview with China Daily.

"Within the Asia region, we have multiple opportunities for growth. However, China is the biggest opportunity, so China within our Asia region, I think will maintain its importance as likely the number one market for us," Fitzpatrick said.

Subway announced in 2023 that it plans to open 4,000 stores in China over the next 20 years. Its 1,000th store was opened in August in Shanghai. Fitzpatrick said he believes the current pace of expansion is sufficient to meet the target, noting that "China (for) Subway is about growth for the next couple of decades.

"I couldn't be more optimistic about exceeding our target … I have no doubt. I have full confidence that we will more than exceed that 4,000 target over the next 20 years," he said.

Such optimism stems from Subway's strong outlook for its business in China, as well as confidence in the country's economy in the coming decade.

"I'm incredibly confident about Subway China's future outlook. I'm also very optimistic and bullish about the Chinese economy. All you have to do is look around this vibrant city. It is full of buildings and young people and technology and globalization," Fitzpatrick said.

"China at this point, I would say that we're still in the early stages of growing this market … So I think the importance of the Chinese business for Subway will only continue to grow over the next decade … My dream is that one day I'll be here celebrating our 10,000th Subway store. But first of all, we want to get to 4,000, and I have really big dreams for Subway in China," he added.

"If you look at China, it is a massive country with massive areas of opportunity. I was reminded today that there are over 600 cities in China with more than 1 million people. So we have lots of areas of what we call 'white space' to open the brand," he said.

The scale of opportunity is reflected in China's catering industry. In 2024, it generated about 5.6 trillion yuan ($786 billion) nationwide, marking a year-on-year increase of 5.3 percent, which is 1.8 percentage points higher than the growth of total retail sales of consumer goods over the same period. This demonstrates the resilience of the catering industry and its significant contribution to the overall consumer market, Xinhuanet reported, citing data from the National Bureau of Statistics and a report on China's catering industry.

Data from business information platform Qichacha showed there were 16.89 million catering-related enterprises nationwide as of March this year, a year-on-year increase of 7.9 percent, the report said.

Subway China, which opened its first store in Beijing in 1995, has entered a fast-growth phase over the past two years, opening more than 400 stores during this period.

As the headquarters of Subway China, Shanghai currently operates nearly 200 stores, the largest number among Chinese cities.

Founded in 1965, Subway now operates more than 35,000 locations in over 90 countries worldwide, with the US remaining its biggest and most mature market.

wang_ying@chinadaily.com.cn