HEFEI - French fashion designer Pierre Cardin on Tuesday opened his third branch of Maxim's, a French restaurant, in central China's Anhui province.

The Maxim's de Paris restaurant in the provincial capital of Hefei is the 11th branch of Maxim's and the third in China following two locations that were opened in Beijing in 1983 and 2008.

Cardin, who purchased the restaurant chain in 1981, said at the Hefei branch's opening ceremony that the potential of the city's population of 7 million made it a place that his company could not ignore.

Differing from the restaurants in Beijing, Cardin's outlet in Hefei features cooperation with a local winery, which also owns China's largest wine cellar.

Chen Yiyong, board chairman of the Hefei restaurant, said the restaurant will provide both casual French meals as well as formal French cuisine so that more people can enjoy authentic French meals at a relatively low price.

Maxim's is a world-famous restaurant chain that expanded globally after being purchased by Cardin.

Cardin opened his first clothing store in China in 1979.