Recent figures show that China's coffee shop industry is booming, with big brands, smaller roasters and local Chinese chains all showing signs of growth.

 

最近数据显示，中国的咖啡店行业正在蓬勃发展，大品牌、小烘焙店以及中国本土连锁店全都表现出增长迹象。

 

Market intelligence company Euromonitor says coffee consumption in China has nearly tripled in the last four years, with the country's coffee shops worth 30.1bn RMB (£3.4bn) in 2017 - up 5 billion RMB (£565m) from the previous year.

 

The trend hasn't gone unnoticed by global coffee brands; earlier this year, Starbucks announced it would open 600 new stores annually¹ for the next four years, reaching 6,000 stores by 2022.

 

China is home to the biggest Starbucks branch in the world - its 30,000-square-foot Reserve Roastery in Shanghai is nearly twice as big as its US counterpart in Seattle.

 

The coffee chain has also partnered with Alibaba to "personalize" its experience for Chinese customers - and says it's looking to start delivery services in Beijing and Shanghai in future.

 

The UK's biggest coffee brand, Costa, also has plans to expand in China. Soon to be owned by Coca-Cola, the firm says it plans to grow its presence in China, building on the 449 stores it currently has and increasing this number to 1,200 stores by 2022.

点击收听单词发音