Jing An Bakery, a unit of China's largest hotel-chain operator, plans to increase its outlets by 16-fold in three years to tap rising demand and seek an initial public offering in Hong Kong to fund the expansion, reported Bloomberg.

"Freshly-baked breads are getting more and more popular in China as they taste much better than pre-baked buns," according to Lewis Wan, chief investment officer of Pride Investments Group Ltd., which owns 80 percent of the bakery with Shanghai Jin Jiang International Hotels Group Co.

The bakery chain, named after a district in central Shanghai, plans to raise about 2 billion yuan ($300 million) in an initial share sale in Hong Kong in three years to fund its expansion, he said. The company aims to increase its outlets to 1,000 from 61 in that period, in the Yangtze River Delta that includes Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, he said.