Unfazed, Starbucks says aims to open 500 new stores in China in 2016

The Starbucks logo outside an outlet in central Beijing.
The Starbucks logo outside an outlet in central Beijing. PHOTO: REUTERS

HONG KONG (REUTERS) - Starbucks, the world's largest coffee chain, said on Tuesday (Jan 12) that it aims to open 500 stores in China this year, shrugging off a slowdown in the world's second-largest economy that has hit global retailers.

Starbucks executives have said they have not seen a systemic slowdown in China, even as the country's cooling economy has been blamed for soft results by the likes of KFC and Pizza Hut parent Yum Brands.

The company said in a statement it aims to create 10,000 jobs in China every year until 2019 as it continues to expand in its largest market outside the United States.

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