BEIJING – McDonald’s has partnered with China Petroleum and Chemical Corp., also known as Sinopec, to open its first drive-thru location linked to a gasoline station in Beijing, the Associated Press reports. McDonald’s will open 25 to 30 more joint sites within the next year and a half, Jeffrey Schwartz, McDonald’s China chief executive told the newswire.

Gasoline stations and drive-thru restaurants are becoming big business in China as newly affluent drivers purchase cars, changing the nation from a bicycle culture to a car culture. The new two-story Beijing McDonald’s restaurant sits beside a Sinopec filling station.

China's booming market is a key growth area for the U.S. hamburger chain, Schwartz told the newswire. “It's huge. It's a real priority for the global company because of the potential growth in China. We think drive-thrus are a big part of this.”

McDonald's has 15 other drive-thrus in China, in Shanghai and the southern cities of Guangdong and Shenzhen. The 20-year deal with Sinopec gives the quickservice chain the pick of any sites where the Chinese partner decides to open a restaurant beside one of its filling stations.