McDonald's opens new Hamburger University in China

China's newest university isn't going to be churning out engineers, scientists and doctors. Instead it aims at producing the next generation of managers -- for McDonald's

The Hamburger University, a venture of fast food giant McDonald's, opened its doors yesterday in Shanghai. The 250 million-yuan school ($36.6 million) will train current employees on how to be leaders in the restaurant and business world, said Rebecca Hary, spokeswoman for McDonald's in a phone interview. This will be the seventh Hamburger University. The school already has locations in the United States (Illinois), Japan, U.K., Germany, Brazil and Australia.

So, why Shanghai? Because of their population size and rising disposable income, China and India have been the largest destinations for foreign companies. There's no dearth of employees, but companies often struggle to retain trained manpower. McDonald's is not alone in its endeavor to grow and keep Chinese talents. Other foreign companies and universities are also deploying similar strategies.