Starbucks on Friday opened a new intangible cultural heritage-themed concept store in Hangzhou, capital of East China's Zhejiang province, as part of its latest expansion efforts in the world's second-largest economy.

This is the fifth such outlet for the US coffee chain in China, following similar stores in Beijing, Shanghai, Suzhou and Nanjing.

The new store is located in a nearly century-old commercial building on Hefang Street, a historic pedestrian street in downtown Hangzhou.

The store is decorated with hangluo gauze, a type of famous silk fabric produced in Hangzhou, with a handloom weaving machine placed on the first floor. Customers can get a glimpse of the special beauty of the intangible cultural heritage while enjoying coffee here.

The hangluo gauze weaving technique was listed as a national intangible cultural heritage in 2008.

The concept of the intangible cultural heritage stores stems from two public welfare projects launched by Starbucks in 2019 concerning the inheritance of intangible cultural heritage and techniques of rural women. The projects have covered about 50 intangible cultural heritage techniques in 26 provincial-level regions.

"We hope the store will serve not only as a space to present coffee culture but also as a cultural window for the public to experience the vitality of intangible cultural heritage," said Cheng Yiting, head of Starbucks' East China Region II.

Starbucks has been operating in Hangzhou for over 20 years and now runs more than 450 stores in the city.