China is Coca-Cola's third largest market by volume, which is critically important to the future growth of its business, according to Muhtar Kent, its chair and CEO in China. (Photo : www.chinadaily.com.cn)
Coca-Cola plans to invest $4 billion for its China operations over the next three years, as announced by chair and CEO Muhtar Kent at the site of a new plant in Hebei Province, north China, on Friday, Aug. 21, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
According to the report, the beverage giant has invested $9 billion between 1979 and 2014.
"China is our third largest market by volume and is critically important to the future growth of our business," Kent said.
Kent added that once complete, the new Huabei plant located in Xianghe County will cost $56 million. It will feature nine production lines and will produce a total of 250 million unit cases annually, he added.
The new 50,000-square-meter plant in Huabei will have four production lines, which is expected to add 100 million unit cases to annual production in China by 2017.
The report said that the Huabei plant is the second Coca-Cola plant to be built under the new investment plan, after the inauguration of a new plant in central China two weeks ago.
"We are committed to investing and growing here. Apart from infrastructure and system development, the new round of investment will focus on enhancing consumer experiences through marketing and [projects with] our loyal retail partners," Kent said.
According to Kent, COFCO Coca-Cola Beverages, Swire Beverages and Coca-Cola Bottling Investments Group China (Coca-Cola's local bottling partners) also plan to fund local infrastructure and growth drivers, as well as pour in new investments in production, distribution and marketing.
Coca-Cola's sales volume continues to grow in China, as it grew by 6 percent in the second quarter of 2015 from the same period last year, the report added.
