Maxim's Caterers Ltd, a Hong Kong restaurateur part-owned by Dairy Farm International Holdings Ltd, won the franchise for Starbucks Inc coffee shops in China's southern Guangdong and Hainan provinces and in Macau.
Maxim's now runs more than 20 shops in Hong Kong, a city of 6.8 million people, through a venture with Starbucks called Coffee Concepts Ltd.
Guangdong, China's richest province, has 86 million people. Hainan, a resort island, has a population of 7.9 million.
Starbucks opened its first shop in Beijing in 1999 in partnership with Beijing Mei Da Coffee Co, followed by a similar tie-up with Taiwan's President Chain Store Corp (統一超商) in Shanghai.
There were 38 outlets in China as of October.
"We will open one branch each in Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Macau before the end of this year," Maxim's Managing Director Michael Wu said.
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