SHANGHAI, Sept. 21, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Yum China
Holdings, Inc. (the "Company" or "Yum
China") (NYSE: YUMC) announced the launch of the KFC 3x3
Basketball Championship 2017 in China. Now in its 14th
year, it is expected that more than 430,000 students from over
4,600 schools will take part in the 2017 competition.
Yao Ming, President of the
Chinese Basketball Association, launched the event at the official
opening ceremony at Tsinghua University High School in Beijing. Yao
Ming commented, "3x3 basketball is entering a new phase of
explosive growth and the sport has recently been added to the
roster for the 2020 Olympics Games in Tokyo. KFC's national competition demonstrates
the huge potential of the sport in China and will provide a
launching pad for the players of the future."
In 2004, KFC partnered with the Chinese Basketball Association
to launch the KFC National 3x3 Youth Basketball Championship, one
of the largest corporate-sponsored grassroots sports programs in
China. The program started with 48,000 participants from 172
cities. Today, the competition has rapidly evolved to become one of
the largest and most influential youth basketball tournaments in
the country. In 2016, over 11.2 million people watched the
competition's final championship game and closing ceremony
online.
"3x3 basketball is a fantastic sport that encourages teamwork
and inspires young people to lead active, healthy lifestyles," said
Joey Wat, President and Chief
Operating Officer, Yum China. "We
hope this competition serves as a platform for young emerging
basketball players to showcase their amazing skills
and realize their dreams."
Yum China and KFC are committed
to promoting the importance of balanced, active lifestyles, and the
3x3 basketball competition is a central component of this
initiative. Requiring fewer players and a smaller court, the
condensed format basketball game is highly accessible and helps to
improve the fitness of teenagers across China.
In recent years, the KFC 3x3 Basketball Championship has also
helped young basketball players pursue their professional
aspirations. Li Haonan, a player from Xinjiang who was on the
championship winning team of the 2016 competition, was invited to
join the Chinese Olympic Basketball Team's official training
roster. He is the first middle school student to be selected to
join the national basketball team.
About Yum China Holdings, Inc.
Yum China Holdings, Inc. is a licensee of Yum! Brands in
mainland China. It has exclusive rights in mainland China to KFC,
China's leading quick-service restaurant brand, Pizza Hut, the
leading casual dining restaurant brand in China, and Taco Bell,
which opened its first restaurant in China at the end of 2016.
Yum China also owns the Little Sheep
and East Dawning concepts outright. Yum
China is well positioned for growth thanks to its strong
competitive position, integration of its brands into Chinese
popular culture and consumers' daily lives, expanding geographic
footprint in China and existing operational expertise. It has a
strong capital position, no external debt and expects to continue
growing its system sales and profit by adding new restaurants and
through growing same-store sales. Yum
China had more than 7,600 restaurants and more than 420,000
employees in over 1,100 cities at the end of May 2017. A new generation of younger consumers
who are digitally sophisticated and brand driven are fueling growth
in consumption in China. The ongoing growth of the middle class and
urban population in China is expected to create the world's largest
market for restaurant brands, with Yum
China poised to be the market leader.
Yum China Media Contacts:
Forest Liu, Director, Finance
Media, at +86 21 2407 7505
Anne Bark, Brunswick Group, at +86
21 6039 6313
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SOURCE Yum China Holdings, Inc