CORRECTED - CORRECTED-Goldman, Whitesun to invest in China cafe chain

(Corrects to remove reference in last paragraph to Goldman investment in Midea (000527.SZ), which was rejected by regulators.)

SHANGHAI, April 7 (Reuters) - Wall Street investment bank Goldman Sachs (GS.N) and Chinese private equity firm Whitesun Equity Partners have agreed to invest a combined $30 million in Chinese coffee shop chain operator C.straits Cafe to help it expand.

C.straits will invite the two strategic investors to appoint representatives to its board and plans to more than double the number of its coffee shops to 1,000 from 400 currently, the Chinese company said in a statement on Monday.

A C.straits spokesman declined to disclose how big a stake the two investors would take in the company.

"Food and beverage chains have huge growth potential in China, where personal incomes are rising," Zhou Zhiyang, a managing director of Goldman Sachs, said in the statement. Goldman Sachs will help C.straits to grow and sell shares publicly as soon as possible, he said.

The expansion will help C.straits to compete with chains such as DIO F&B Group and Starbucks Corp (SBUX.O), which are wooing increasingly affluent Chinese consumers who prefer western lifestyles. Coffee consumption in China is increasing by 20 to 25 percent a year, Starbucks has said.

Chinese restaurant chain DIO F&B last December received $21 million in investment from U.S. private equity firm Carlyle Group [CYL.UL] and plans to triple the number of its DIO Coffee outlets to 1,000 in five years.

Starbucks expects China to become its biggest overseas market, but has not given a time frame.

C.straits, based in Hangzhou city in eastern China, said on Monday it would open outlets in more than 20 high-end hotels owned by New Century Hotels & Resorts. Its shops offer western food as well as coffee and other beverages.

Goldman Sachs has invested in Chinese companies including top meat processor Henan Shuanghui Investment & Development Co 000895.SS. Whitesun is a Shanghai-based private equity firm that invests mainly in technology and consumer products companies. (Reporting by Samuel Shen; Editing by Edmund Klamann)