Yum Brands, McDonald's Explore China Pullback

(Beijing) — Thirty years after entering China, U.S. fast-food giants Yum Brands and McDonald's are changing their recipes for business operations in the country, with each using the same recipe — offloading their respective China operations.

In early September, Yum, which owns the KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell chains, announced a sale of a slice of its China operations to private equity fund Primavera Capital Group and Ant Financial Services Group, which is affiliated with Alibaba Group. The move is a step in the company's plan to spin off its China operation and list it on the New York Stock Exchange separately.