China is to have 1,500 Starbucks outlets in nearly 100  cities by 2015 if everything goes according to plans announced by the company last December 2010.

Looking to increase its foothold in China, and demonstrating its commitment and appreciation of the market potential, Starbucks, which currently has around 450 coffee shops in the country, is adopting an ever-more vertical position in the market.

It has boosted the presence of its popular VIA brand in the instant coffee segment and has invested in its first domestic coffee bean farm and processing facility, in Yunnan province.

Reports noted that Wang Jinlong, chairman of the board of Starbucks Greater China, said that the cooperation between the company and the provincial government aimed to boost the region’s coffee industry.

Wang was opening Starbucks’ first outlet in the province’s Kunming City at the time.

“Moving into Yunnan is a significant move for the company,” he is reported to have said, adding that another two downtown stores  were already planned for the city. “The Yunnan ribbon-cutting also shows that Starbucks has the confidence to initiate a new round of market expansion in some of China’s smaller cities,” he said.