(Yicai) Jan. 16 -- American coffee chain Starbucks today launched a co-branded latte in China with the Monkey King animation, aiming to entice customers as competition with homegrown Luckin Coffee and other chains deepens.

The latte costs CNY38 (USD5) each and on Jan. 19, customers can also buy straws and pendants featuring the Chinese mythological creature, according to the Seattle-based firm. 

Coffeehouses are looking to brand cooperation to maintain market share. In September, Luckin Coffee launched a baijiu-flavored drink with renowned producer Kweichow Moutai and sold more than 5.4 million cups worth over CNY100 million (USD14 million) on the first day. Manner Coffee also brought out a beverage co-branded with perfume maker Jo Malone London last year, while M Stand did the same with Swiss watchmaker Breitling.

It is unusual for Starbucks to co-brand with intellectual property based on Chinese culture, said Zhu Danpeng, deputy director of the Guangdong Food Safety Promotion Association. The fact that it has shows how Starbucks is paying more attention to the Chinese market, its most important outside of the United States, Zhu added.

China has a large, fast-growing, and cut-throat market for coffee, with more foreign and domestic shops in the country now than there are in the United States. The market was worth CNY381.7 billion (USD53.6 billion) in 2021 and is expected to top CNY1 trillion (USD140.5 billion) next year, per a joint report by AI Research, Ele.me, and Tmall Coffee.

Starbucks plans to increase the number of its coffee shops in China to 9,000 by 2025, while raising its headcount to more than 90,000 from 60,000, Chief Executive Laxman Narasimhan has said.

Editor: Emmi Laine