Guangzhou-based developer Country Garden has signed a deal to help McDonald’s China reach its goal of opening 2000 restaurants by 2022.

In the strategic co-operation deal signed with the new owner of McDonald’s China, the mainland’s third-largest developer by sales has pledged to provide locations for the fast-food chain’s plan to nearly double its footprint, reports property portal Guandian.

The partnership echoes a deal McDonald’s signed last month with Evergrande Real Estate Group, under which the burger giant will piggyback on the residential developer’s nationwide property portfolio to accelerate its push into China’s lower-tier cities.

McDonald’s China’s strategy to grow its stores from 2500 to 4500 in little more than five years looks to third- and fourth-tier cities for the bulk of the expansion. These cities will account for 45 per cent of outlets by the end of 2022.

The new approach to securing shop locations comes after Citic Limited and its investment-management arm Citic Capital Partners jointly took a 52 per cent stake in the venture. McDonald’s China chairman Zhang Yichen, who is also CEO of Citic Capital, says the company is discussing similar agreements with rival builders China Overseas Land & Investment and China Vanke, which have close connections with Citic.

Hong Kong-listed Country Garden, China’s top developer by sales, had 722 projects across mainland China and Hainan at the end of last year, more than 35 per cent of them in Guangdong province.