Starbucks China To Be Second Largest Market Outside U.S. In 2014

Last year, Starbucks announced that it planned to triple its number of coffee shops in China over the next four years. "The coffee industry in China has huge potential," the company's Asia Pacific president Jinlong Wang said.

This week, Starbucks opened its 100th store in Beijing and now has over 700 stores in mainland China, according to a press release. By 2014, Starbucks expects China to be its second largest market outside the U.S. and expects to have 1,500 stores in more than 70 Chinese cities by 2015. Ad Age calculates that a new store will open in China almost daily for the next three years.

China is only one locus of Starbucks' focus on growth abroad though. In 2013, the company plans to open 1,300 new locations and about 600 of those are in China and the Asia Pacific region.

If you happen to be traveling to China though, don't expect the Starbucks there to be exact replicas of those in the States. Many locations are the antithesis of grab-and-go and most business is done after 2:00 p.m. Customers want a place to relax on couches, in other words.