Burger King Corp. reached a significant milestone with the grand opening of the brand’s 12,000th restaurant, located in Beijing, China’s Joy City.

“We are committed to profitably growing our brand and diversifying our global restaurant portfolio,” says John Chidsey, chairman and CEO of Burger King Corp. “The opening of our 12,000th restaurant represents a significant milestone for our brand. The Burger King system grew more than 3 percent on a net new unit basis in fiscal 2009—a growth rate at the top of the industry—and we are on target to open an additional 250 to 300 net new restaurants during this fiscal year.”

The 12,000th Burger King restaurant is located in Beijing’s Joy City and is the first BK restaurant in downtown Beijing’s busy Xidan area. The opening represents another step forward in the brand’s growth and development in the Chinese market following its entry into Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Xiamen, and Suzhou.

“The opening of Burger King’s 12,000th restaurant, which is located in Beijing, demonstrates our commitment to expanding our presence in China and throughout the entire Asia Pacific region,” says Peter Tan, president of Asia-Pacific for Burger King Corp. “We opened more restaurants in the region in 2009 than during the last four years combined and we plan to open even more new restaurants this year. And with only 25 BK restaurants currently operating in China, we have significant growth potential for our brand in this particular market.”

Burger King Corp. is celebrating this milestone opening weeks after the introduction of Asia’s first Whopper Bar in Singapore’s popular lifestyle precinct, Clark Quay. The Whopper Bar is a completely new, enhanced spin-off concept of the traditional Burger King restaurant with a modern, bar-like look and feel inspired by the flame-broiled Whopper sandwich. A second Whopper Bar is scheduled to open in Singapore in the next few months.