San Antonio-born Church’s Texas Chicken is going big overseas, with its international banner, Texas Chicken, locking in a franchise deal to open roughly 600 restaurants across China. The first location is slated to debut in Shanghai this summer, and company leaders are billing the move as their biggest international development swing yet, positioning China as a cornerstone market in the chain’s global expansion. The rollout will be handled with a local operating partner and will unfold over several years.
Deal specifics and local operator
According to a company press release via PR Newswire, Texas Chicken has teamed up with Deke Shengtang, described by the company as a local operator of multiple quick service brands, on a franchise agreement to develop 600 or more restaurants across China over the next several years. The release identifies China as the brand’s 27th international market and calls the agreement Texas Chicken’s largest international commitment so far. “China is one of the most dynamic and influential consumer markets in the world,” CEO Roland Gonzalez said in the statement.
Homegrown roots in San Antonio
The chain traces its story back to a small fried chicken stand opened near the Alamo in 1952 by George W. Church Sr., and it has long leaned into that San Antonio origin tale as it expanded. As reported by the San Antonio Express-News, the company spotlighted its hometown history during the China announcement and framed the new deal as a defining chapter in the brand’s evolution.
Part of a yearslong global push
The China agreement follows a run of international development deals the company announced in 2025 as it accelerated growth in Europe and other regions. Industry reporting from Restaurant Dive noted that Church’s and Texas Chicken have been building a substantial pipeline of overseas openings, positioning the brand for faster unit growth outside the United States.
China’s crowded fried chicken field
China is both a lucrative prize and a crowded battlefield, with longtime multinational incumbents and powerful domestic players already operating thousands of quick service storefronts across the country. Yum China recently reported record net new store openings and stressed that KFC and Pizza Hut remain dominant brands there, underscoring the scale of competition Texas Chicken will be stepping into. Analysts and operators frequently point to strong local partners as the essential tool for western chains to adapt menus, supply chains and restaurant formats to local tastes.
What comes next
Church’s says it will share more specifics on restaurant design, exact locations and the phased rollout as the launch gets closer, and it expects additional locations beyond Shanghai to open over the next several years. For now, the company has pegged its first Shanghai opening for summer 2026 and describes the project as a strategic step in its broader international growth plan, according to the company release.
For San Antonio, the move serves as a reminder that a modest neighborhood fried chicken stand near the Alamo has grown into a global brand now plotting a massive overseas push. That sense of hometown pride was a recurring theme in the company’s messaging around the China deal.
