On January 15th, in response to the online rumors that Xi Bei would close all 102 nationwide stores at once, Xi Bei’s founder, Jia Guolong, confirmed the authenticity of the news.
According to a leaked internal Xi Bei meeting document and a list of store closures circulating on mainland Chinese social media platforms on January 15th, Xi Bei is set to simultaneously close all 102 stores nationwide, accounting for about one-third of its total store count and affecting approximately 4000 employees. The news also mentioned that since the discussion sparked by the pre-made meals in September 2025, not a single store has been profitable, and Xi Bei’s losses have exceeded 500 million RMB (Chinese Yuan) up to date.
Chinese News Weekly reported that Xi Bei’s founder, Jia Guolong, confirmed the store closure news.
After “Jiemian News” organized the list of stores set to close, it was found that Xi Bei’s closures this time are mainly concentrated in first and second-tier cities.
Among them, Shanghai has the highest number of stores involved, with 19 closures; Beijing, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou will each close 10, 8, and 5 stores respectively. Additionally, Hangzhou, Wuhan, and Changsha each have 4 closures; Chengdu, Foshan, Kunming, and Suzhou each have 3 closures. In total, these cities have about 66 stores affected.
Furthermore, Xi Bei stores in Dongguan, Guiyang, Hefei, and other locations are also on the closure list, with 1-2 closures per city, involving about 36 stores; with a total of 102 stores planned for closure.
Looking at the distribution by cities, the stores on the list are mainly located in first-tier and new first-tier cities.
It was reported that on January 15th, confirmation was sought from some Xi Bei stores suspected to be on the closure list. Shanghai Baoshan Wanda Store explicitly stated that it would soon close.
Meanwhile, a staff member at Xi Bei Shanghai Zijing Square store mentioned that the store is currently in negotiations for early rent reduction and has not received closure information yet.
According to “LatePost,” around September last year, Xi Bei had approximately 370 stores, with a net closure of about a dozen by the end of the year. The current figure of 102 closures being circulated is nearly twice the initial plan. After these stores are truly closed, Xi Bei will have around 268 stores remaining nationwide.
Additionally, the claim of “involving 4000 employees” in this round of closures is still pending official confirmation from Xi Bei.
Jia Guolong revealed that Xi Bei’s single-store net profit is only 5%. In November last year, the worst month in terms of operations, Xi Bei’s overall revenue was only 265 million RMB, less than half of the same period the previous year; the fixed expenditure for wages alone was as high as 135 million RMB.
According to the Red Restaurant Industry Research Institute’s estimate, the average survival cycle of dining establishments may drop to around 15 months by 2025. Wang Puzhong, CEO of Meituan’s core local business, mentioned at a recent restaurant industry conference, “This year’s (dine-in) average customer spending has already approached that of 2015.” A return of dine-in customer spending to levels from 10 years ago indicates a further decrease in the overall profitability of the restaurant industry.
Xi Bei is a well-known Chinese chain restaurant brand. According to its official website, Xi Bei was founded in 1988, and as of March 2025, it had nearly 400 directly operated stores. The brand was once valued at over 10 billion RMB but stumbled in the pre-made meal controversy.