The coffee chain's second quarter financial report shows the Asia-Pacific region provides the biggest profit margin - a whopping 32 percent compared to 21% in Americas, and less than 2% in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

In a written statement, Starbucks says the regional disparity is due a larger number of franchised stores v.s. directly operated ones in China. And costs in those franchised Starbucks are not shown in the company's financial results.

"I'm sorry. We do not have the statistics. We don't provide market-specific numbers." Wang Xingrong, Communication Director of Starbucks China said.

In the telephone interview, the company also said its pricing is based on a number of factors such as cost of labor, equipment, rent and custom duties, in addition to its cost of raw material. All these factors together contribute to the differences in pricing across regions.

We have to look at all the variables, but I can't help you compare every one of them." Wang Xingrong said.

Starbucks currently has about one thousand shops in China, and the Asian country is on its way to replace Canada as the coffee giant's second largest market.