McDonald’s Corp, the world’s biggest restaurant chain, said on Tuesday that it will open at least 200 Mcafes this year in China.

The fast food giant is expanding its freshly made coffee business in order to meet the country’s surging demand.

The value of coffee sales in China reached 6.25 billion yuan ($1 billion) in 2011, up 20 percent from a year earlier, said market research firm Euromonitor International.

According to research firm Mintel, the Chinese mainland market for packaged coffee products has grown at a compound annual growth rate of 18 percent a year since 2007 and could rise another 75 percent to 16 billion yuan by 2017.

McDonald’s now has more than 1,400 restaurants in 26 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities on the Chinese mainland and aims to expand that network to more than 2,000 outlets by the end of this year.