A coffee maker pours coffee to a take-out paper cup at the Starbucks Reserve Roastery in Shanghai, east China, June 3, 2022. (Xinhua/Liu Ying)
SHANGHAI, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- Coffee giant Starbucks said Wednesday that its store count on the Chinese mainland is expected to grow to 9,000 by 2025, providing 35,000 new jobs for employees.
"Through the launch of the Starbucks China 2025 purpose-driven growth agenda, we reaffirm our strong confidence in the prospects and opportunities of the Chinese market with concrete commitments and actions," said Belinda Wong, chairwoman of Starbucks China, adding Starbucks is now more resilient than ever after navigating challenges since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
With an investment of about 1.1 billion yuan (about 159 million U.S. dollars), a Starbucks coffee creative park in Kunshan, east China's Jiangsu Province, will be completed and put into operation in the summer of 2023.
Starbucks revealed that they plan to set up its first digital technology innovation center on the Chinese mainland, for which the company will spend more than 1.4 billion yuan.
The number of Starbucks stores on the Chinese mainland has grown dramatically over the past decade and will reach 6,000 by the end of the company's fiscal year in September 2022. ■
