Starbucks chairman and ceo Howard Schultz met today with the Shanghai Party Secretary to express his gratitude for the government's support of Starbucks innovation and growth in China.

Meeting with Mr Han Zheng, Party Secretary Shanghai, Jing'An District, Schultz received full support for Starbucks first international Roastery. Opening in 2017, Starbucks Roastery in Shanghai will bring a first-of-its-kind coffee retail experience which combines coffee roasting, manufacturing, education and retail within a single facility to China.

Prior to the meeting, Schultz also met with Mr An Lusheng, Party Secretary of Jing'an District of Shanghai. Earlier this year, Starbucks global leaders met with Mr. An and Mr. Lu Xiaodong, the Mayor of the District in Shanghai where they stated, 'The new Jing'an is focused on developing high-end commercial sectors, establish new developmental goals for a modern cosmopolitan city, and encourage new retail innovations within our district. The government fully supports this pioneering retail experience and initiative from Starbucks.'

In addition, Starbucks announced the promotion of Belinda Wong from president to chief executive officer of Starbucks China. Wong has been instrumental in Starbucks unprecedented growth in China - from 400 stores in 2011 to over 2,300 stores today - by leading on the foundational values of Starbucks mission and driving meaningful innovation for Starbucks partners (employees) and customers in China. In this role, Wong will oversee Starbucks plans to double its scale to operate 5,000 stores in China by 2021.

Photo caption:

Starbucks chairman and ceo Howard Schultz meets with Han Zheng, Party Secretary Shanghai, who served as Mayor of Shanghai between 2003 and 2012. In November 2012 he was promoted to become the Party Secretary of Shanghai and elected into the Politburo of CPC.

For more information on this news release, contact the Starbucks Newsroom

Starbucks Corporation published this content on 19 October 2016 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein.
Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 19 October 2016 08:49:34 UTC.

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