Chinese President Xi Jinping has asked U.S. coffee chain Starbucks Corp. to continue playing a positive role in promoting economic and trade cooperation between the world's two major powers, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Thursday.

In a letter of reply to Howard Schultz, the chairman emeritus of Starbucks, on Jan. 6, Xi was quoted by the news agency as saying China "will provide broader space for enterprises from across the world" so that U.S. companies can develop in the country.

Starbucks, one of the world's biggest chains of coffee shops, has thousands of locations in China.

In his letter to Xi earlier, Schultz "congratulated China on the upcoming completion of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects under Xi's leadership, and expressed his respect for the Chinese people and Chinese culture," according to Xinhua.

==Kyodo

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