The Chamber of International Commerce Shanghai has launched a Coffee Industry Board to bolster the development of the city’s coffee industry and introduce a coffee bean price index in 2022.

The aim of the board is to facilitate trade, slash costs and help high-quality coffee products to enter the Chinese market.

Shanghai PHQ Coffee Trade Center – the main business platform on the Coffee Industry Board – is set to soon issue its coffee bean price index, in the first half of 2022, according to Zhou Minhao, chairman of the Chamber of International Commerce Shanghai.

The PHQ trade center "will cover the whole industry chain from seed to cup and strive to become an influential coffee bean exchange in the world," Zhou stated.

Furthermore, the Coffee Industry Board will offer support in terms of financing, sales, warehousing and logistics, says a Shine news report.

"The board will become a professional institution to promote the coffee trade and exchange different coffee cultures," according to Lei Miao, chairman of the new board.

China has become one of the largest coffee consumers in the world. A recent poll revealed there are more than 8,200 coffee shops in Shanghai as at the end of October, making it the city with the highest number of coffee shops in the world, more than New York City, London, and Tokyo.

In addition, Shanghai has China’s highest per capita coffee consumption. As per findings from domestic think tank, the Qianzhan Institute, China’s coffee consumption has risen by 15% since the mid-2010s, compared with a global average of 2%. Moreover, the country’s coffee market size is expected to reach 21.7 billion yuan ($3.4 billion) in 2025.