Starbucks to double China stores in five years; names first CEO

The World’s biggest coffee chain Starbucks recently named its first chief executive officer for China and said it plans to more than double its store count in that country to 5,000 by 2021, the company said in a statement..
Starbucks has seen rapid expansion in China, where it opened its first cafe 17 years ago. In 2011, the company had only 400 outlets but today has almost six times as many at 2,300.
Starbucks chief executive Howard Schultz has said China could one day become the coffee chain’s largest market, overtaking the US where it has some 7,500 stores.
In a sign of its hopes for the Chinese market, Starbucks also said it was promoting Belinda Wong from president to chief executive of Starbucks China.
“She will be responsible for key areas, including the vast digital and e-commerce opportunities across the market and overseeing the opening of Starbucks first international Starbucks Roastery in Shanghai in 2017,” the company said.
Wong had previously held various positions for the company in Starbucks China and the Asia-Pacific region.
Having faced difficulties in penetrating markets such as Australia, Starbucks increasingly is catering to local tastes rather than exporting products sold in the US.