Financial

Starbucks plans big push into China
BY ANGUS CHUANG
Reuters

TAIPEI - Starbucks Corp., the world's top coffee shop chain, said on Friday it is planning a big push into China, confident the tea-drinking nation will develop a taste for lattes and cappuccinos.
The company has a bold ambition to expand its stores in Asia to 6,000 from around 600, with a large number of those opening in the greater China region.
"A substantial number of those will certainly be in greater China, but whether it's half or more it's too early to say," Starbucks President Peter Maslen told Reuters in an interview.
China, known more for its penchant for tea than for double tall lattes, currently has 62 Starbucks, most of them in the wealthier cities of Beijing and Shanghai.
But Starbucks is confident it can repeat the success it has seen in Taiwan, one of its fastest growing markets in Asia. The trademark green and white mer...