Kunshan Coffee Culture Festival opens on September 27, 2023. (CFP Photo)
Kunshan, a county-level city in southeastern Jiangsu Province, has emerged as a key coffee bean hub significantly contributing to China’s coffee industry. Currently, about 60% of China’s coffee beans are roasted in Kunshan.
Bordering Shanghai in the south, Kunshan spans 931 square kilometers. Its coffee journey began with the opening of Jiangsu’s first Starbucks on August 28, 2003. In the first 11 months of 2023, Kunshan’s foreign trade in coffee beans surged by 177.1% year-on-year, with imports totaling 31,200 tonnes, a 213.6% increase from the previous year.
This robust growth contrasted its modest beginning, perhaps best illustrated by an anecdote during the Spring Festival in 1986. To welcome Norwegian engineers, an enterprise in the Kunshan Economic and Technological Development Zone (KETD) bought coffee from Shanghai. However, due to unfamiliarity, the coffee was served in bowls, typically used for Suanmeitang, a sour plum drink, to the surprise of foreign guests.
In June 2023, the Asia Pacific Coffee Green Bean Distribution Center was launched at Kunshan Comprehensive Bonded Zone, boasting a storage capacity of 50,000 tonnes.
Starbucks opens its China Coffee Innovation Park in Kunshan on September 19, 2023. (CFP Photo)
In March 2020, Starbucks signed an agreement with Kunshan to establish its China Coffee Innovation Park, which covers 80,000 square meters of floor space. Since September 2019, Starbucks team has made eight inspection visits to Kunshan focusing on the issues such as land, water, electricity, education and healthcare for employees. Among more than 10 development zones across the country, the largest investment in any Starbucks coffee manufacturing and distribution center outside the US was landed in Kunshan.
Following Starbucks, Luckin Coffee in 2022 chose Kunshan for its roasting facility, which will open this year. Renowned global traders like Mitsui and Louis Dreyfus are also present in the city. Meanwhile, coffee bean business from Yunnan and Fujian provinces is relocating to the city.
Starbucks opens its China Coffee Innovation Park in Kunshan on September 19, 2023. (CFP Photo)
Kunshan Customs has facilitated this growth with streamlined supervision from 2020, which can reduce customs clearance within one day. This innovative approach reduces cost for companies and has been adopted nationwide.
Kunshan’s manufacturing powers, lower storage costs, and its proximity to Shanghai’s market are strategic advantages. According to Shao Zhiqiang, deputy director of Kunshan Comprehensive Bonded Zone Administration, the city is expanding its coffee industry chain to both domestic and international markets. This includes engaging global giants in supplying green coffee beans and hosting their entrepot trade too.
Complementing its industrial growth, Kunshan now has a vibrant coffee culture, with about 600 café stores and a growing preference for freshly ground coffee among residents, particularly the youth.
