Starbucks announced Monday it will sell a controlling stake in its Chinese retail operations to investment firm Boyu Capital in a deal valuing the business at around $4 billion.

Under the agreement, Boyu will hold up to 60 percent of a new joint venture operating 8,000 Starbucks stores across China, while the Seattle-based company retains a 40 percent stake and continues to own the brand and intellectual property.

The partnership marks a strategic shift for Starbucks after more than 26 years in China, combining the global coffee chain’s brand recognition with Boyu’s local market expertise to expand into smaller cities and new regions.

China represents Starbucks’s second biggest market globally, though the company has faced increasing competition from local coffee chains like Luckin coff

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