China’s largest coffee chain Luckin Coffee seeks US relisting 5 years after $310M accounting fraud scandal

The chain, headquartered in China’s southeastern city of Xiamen, announced during an investor call Monday that it remains committed to a U.S. relisting, though no timeline has been set as the company continues to prioritize expansion, the Wall Street Journal reported.

"Our current priority is focusing on strategy execution, concentrating on business operations and development, and enhancing our brand influence and market competitiveness," a company spokesperson noted.

Its co-founder and CEO, Jinyi Guo, also said at a government-hosted entrepreneurs’ gathering earlier this month that Luckin is "actively pushing the process" while "under the (Xiamen) municipal government’s guidance," as quoted by CNBC.

People pass a Luckin Coffee shop in Manhattan on Sept. 4, 2025, in New York City. Photo by Getty Images via AFP

Founded by a former tech executive in 2017, Luckin is known for its sleek, app-driven cafés and quickly emerged as a domestic challenger to Starbucks in China. The chain went public in the U.S. in 2019 but was delisted in June 2020 after it was discovered that it had fabricated revenues for 2019.

Six months later, the chain agreed to pay a $180 million penalty to settle accounting fraud charges with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and later filed for bankruptcy in 2021.

It has since made a remarkable turnaround. Its budget-friendly drinks have drawn a growing customer base, helping it surpass Starbucks to become China’s top coffee chain in 2023. It now operates more than 29,000 stores globally, with about three Luckin outlets for every Starbucks in China.

This year, the chain debuted in the U.S. with its first two stores in New York City in July and has since opened three more locations in the same city, according to Wired.

It added over 3,000 outlets globally in the third quarter alone. Same-store sales at its operated outlets rose 14% year-on-year in the quarter, outpacing Starbucks and most competitors, while net revenues surged 50.2% to nearly 15.3 billion yuan.

Shaun Rein, founder of China Market Research Group, describes Luckin as "one of the great turnaround stories in Chinese business history."

"Many people thought they were dead, but underlying the fraud was a company with great technology and decent coffee at a competitive price," he told Financial Times. "Now, it is coming after Starbucks on its home turf."