Apr. 24, 2008 (China Knowledge) - Starbucks Corp, the world's biggest coffee-shop chain, plans to open at least 80 outlets in China this year, said Wang Jinlong, the firm's president in Greater China region, in an interview with a Chinese newspaper.

The move is in line with the U.S. company's global expansion plan of opening around 2,150 outlets this year, of which 975 are outside the U.S. Currently, Starbucks runs 593 coffee shops in Greater China, with more than 300 in the mainland.

The company plans to hire more workers in the next two years, Wang said, besides consolidating its businesses in major Chinese cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, Starbucks will branch out into more Tier-2 cities.

However, he still remains optimistic about the market potential of the first-tier cities, with an aim of achieving 100% revenue growth in these cities this year.