McDonald's Corp., the world's biggest restaurant chain, said on May 7 that it will open at least 200 McCafes in China this year.

The fast food giant is expanding its coffee business in order to meet the country's surging demand. The value of coffee sales in China reached 6.25 billion yuan ($1 billion) in 2011, up 20 percent from a year earlier, said market research firm Euromonitor International.

According to research firm Mintel, the Chinese mainland market for packaged coffee products has grown at a compound annual growth rate of 18 percent every year since 2007 and could rise another 75 percent to 16 billion yuan ($2.6 billion) by 2017.