CJ Foodville’s flagship bakery Tous Les Jours has advanced into China’s southwest Guangzhou and Guizhou markets, the company said Monday.

“By entering two additional Chinese regions, Tous Les Jours is taking one step closer to its goal of opening more than 1,000 stores in China by 2020,” a CJ Foodville official said.

It is Korean bakery brand’s first foray into the two regions, which were included as footholds of the Chinese government’s New Silk Road project, the firm said. The project, initiated by President Xi Jinping in 2013, aims to connect China with Europe.

Last week, Guangzhou’s first Tous Les Jours store opened in the city’s 71,000-square-meter shopping mall Metropolitan Plaza, in Huangsha Avenue.

Tous Les Jours signed its master franchise agreement with Chinese food service firm Derun for the Guizhou store to be launched later this year, according to the official.

Currently, the bakery chain runs 175 stores in seven countries including the U.S., Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia and Malaysia.

By Park Han-na (hnpark@heraldcorp.com)