(Yicai) Feb. 26 -- Chinese coffee chain Luckin Coffee reported an annual revenue that exceeded that of US coffee giant Starbucks in China for the first time ever last year.

Luckin Coffee's revenue soared 87 percent to CNY24.9 billion (USD3.5 billion) in the year ended Dec. 31 from the previous one, thanks to faster store expansion and the launch of new products, the Xiamen-based company announced on Feb. 23. Non-Generally Accepted Accounting Principles operating profit jumped 162 percent to CNY3 billion (USD416.8 million).

In comparison, Starbucks China's revenue totaled USD3 billion in the year ended Sept. 30, last year.

"Despite fierce industry competition, Luckin Coffee as a leading brand in a coffee market in China, is committed to accelerating store network expansion, investing in supply chain development, strengthening digital advantages, optimizing costs and improving efficiency," Chairman and Chief Executive Guo Jinyi said. "All these efforts aim to further expand and solidify our competitive advantages to build an absolute market-leading position while also achieving long-term, healthy, high-speed, and sustainable growth.”

Last year, Luckin Coffee's net new store openings nearly doubled to 8,034, bringing the total to 16,218 as of Dec. 31. All the outlets are in China, except for 30 of them, which are in Singapore.

Luckin Coffee introduced 102 new products last year, eight of which achieved sales volumes of over 100 million cups. The co-branded latte-like coffee drink with a slight baijiu aftertaste that Luckin launched with Chinese distiller Kweichow Moutai logged sales of 45.8 million cups and a revenue of CNY900 million (USD125 million).

Editors: Shi Yi, Futura Costaglione