America’s full-service restaurant chain Denny’s says by mutual agreement it has cancelled an agreement with Great China International Group (GCIG) to develop franchise restaurants in Southern China.

In July, Denny’s and GCIG have signed an agreement for the development of 50 restaurants in six Chinese provinces including Guangdong, Fujian, Guizhou, Jiangxi, Chongqing and Sichuan over the next 15 years.

First restaurant was supposed to be opened this year.

Steve Dunn, Denny’s VP of global development, said GCIG need to focus on other projects but gave no further detail why the agreement was axed.

“We continue to believe that Denny’s has great potential in the Pacific Rim in general, and China in particular, and are actively seeking development partners who share that vision,” said Denny’s president and CEO John Miller.

Denny’s currently has 1688 franchised, licensed, and company restaurants around the world.