LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Yum China began trading on the New York Stock Exchange as an independent company under the ticker symbol “YUMC” following the successful spinoff of Yum! Brands’ China business.

Yum Brands’ and Yum China’s leadership teams celebrated the milestone by simultaneously ringing the NYSE Opening Bell from New York and Shanghai. Now, Yum China Holdings, Inc. is a licensee of Yum! Brands in mainland China with exclusive rights to KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell. Yum China also owns the Little Sheep and East Dawning concepts. Yum China operates more than 7,300 restaurants and employs more than 400,000 workers in over 1,100 cities. The business generated over $8 billion in system sales in 2015.

Each Yum! Brands stockholder received one share of Yum China common stock for each share of Yum! Brands common stock held as of close of business on Oct. 19. Approximately 364 million shares of Yum China stock were distributed in the spinoff.

“The successful separation of Yum China marks a major milestone in Yum! Brands’ history,” Yum! Brands CEO Greg Creed said in a statement. “We’ve established two powerful, independent companies that are each well capitalized with long runways for growth and value creation. We couldn’t be more excited about what the future holds for both companies.”