Howard Schultz, chairman, president and CEO of the US-based global coffee chain Starbucks Corp, speaking at a local dealership meeting in Chengdu, Sichuan province on Jan 12, 2016. Starbucks said it plans to add 500 stores in China every year for the next five years, as the company remains upbeat on the world's second-largest economy. [Photo/China Daily]

"These were not shut-downs, but relocations," said Zheng Tie, assistant director of the China World Mall, a shopping center close to where the stores once stood.

The first shop was far too small. Back in 1999, Starbucks had no idea that the market in China would be so huge, Zheng told Xinhua. The store was relocated to bigger premises in a new commercial center nearby, and business was even better.

The store that closed last year is moving to a new location along the street, where new products and services will be tried out, Zheng said.

By 2019, the company expects to have 3,400 stores in China, which means a new Starbucks springing up every day.

"We are very bullish on the Chinese market and will continue to develop our businesses here as we did in past years," Hao Yan, communications manager with Starbucks Beijing, told Xinhua.