Yum! Brands, the operator of restaurant chains including KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, is to open another 372 stores in China in the second half of 2012, which will create significant employment opportunities.

The company opened 656 units in the country last year, and in its Q2 2012 financial statement, upwardly revised its full-year 2012 goals for Chinese openings to 700, having already opened 328 stores there this year.

It will open a further 1,000 stores across its other global markets during 2012.

Sales in its Chinese operations grew by 27% in Q2, the highest of any area of the group’s operations, although a rise in costs saw operating profit fall by 4%.