Starbucks Coffee Company has introduced a new lighter roast coffee, Starbucks Golden Roast, to its stores in China.

"Starbucks Golden Roast, our newest coffee innovation, will further reinforce our coffee leadership in China," said Marie Han Silloway, vice-president of Marketing & Category, Starbucks China.

China is the fifth-largest market for the Seattle-based Starbucks, following the US, Canada, the United Kingdom and Japan.

Starbucks plans to have 1,500 shops in China by 2015, going from shops in 48 Chinese cities to more than 70 cities.

Coffee shop sales in China are expected to increase by 55 percent to reach 4.5 billion yuan ($714 million) in 2015 from last year's 2.9 billion yuan, according to the London-based research firm Euromonitor International.