Shanghai has more coffee shops than any other city in the world, according to a research published by media platform Yicai. As the city returns to normalcy after the latest COVID-19 outbreak, having coffee is back on people's daily agenda in the city.

At the end of May, Shanghai unveiled a 50-step plan to help domestic and foreign companies. A key part of the action plan is to stabilize foreign investment and trade as well as accelerate the recovery of consumption and investment. Specialists will be assigned to provide service for key foreign-funded enterprises to resume work and production.

"Our team was able to open up to 600 stores within 72 hours of the reopening. And today we're operating already 860 stores in the city," Leo Tsoi, CEO of Starbucks China, said.

"I would say this is only chapter one for us", said Tsoi, adding "We are highly confident in China."

"Over all these years, despite challenges and difficulties, we continue to invest and we continue to grow, there's quite a number of investment that we are trying to do," he said.

Tsoi mentioned Starbucks will keep investing in the Chinese market. First, Starbucks will open 6,000 stores in China by the end of the fiscal year 2022. Second, it will continue the construction of its China Coffee Innovation Park in Kunshan, east China's Jiangsu Province, as part of its efforts to enhance its supply chain efficiency and build a greener coffee industry in the country.

During Shanghai's recent COVID-19 outbreak, catering was among the many industries affected. But now, Starbucks, Tim Hortons, Costa Coffee and other chains have reopened their shops in the city.

"I'm proud that we were part of this difficult time, that we went through with the Shanghainese community and that we are using coffee to connect our communities and with our customers," Tsoi added.