The Coca-Cola (Yunnan) Company signed a cooperation agreement on July 29 with the Kunming National Hi-Tech Industries Development Zone. Coca-Cola (Yunnan) will relocate its factory to the Kunming Hi-Tech Zone and carry out further expansion there.

Wang Minzheng, director of the administrative committee for the zone said at the signing ceremony that Coca-Cola had invested nearly 1.4 billion yuan ($225.4 million) for the relocation and expansion project. After completion, there will be 12 production lines – eight more than before. Consequently, annual output will increase from 350,000 to 900,000 metric tons, which will give annual sales revenue of 1.8 billion yuan. The cooperation with Coca-Cola is a major breakthrough following the Kunming Hi-Tech Zone’s investment promotion.

According to Yang Tenghua, president of the China and South-East Asia Region of Coca-Cola's Bottling Investment Group, the new factory in Yunnan will adopt the latest technologies to become a modern environmentally friendly factory. Yang said: "Yunnan has become one of Coca-Cola’s most important business areas in China. It will enhance cooperation with Kunming Hi-Tech Zone to boost the market expansion in Southwest China."

By Shi Zihan and edited by Brian Salter