September 7, 2007

Zhongpin strengthens presence in northern China

Zhongpin Inc, a leading meat and food processing company in China, announced (Sep 7) it would lease the largest pork production facility in the city of Tianjin to expand its presence in northern China.

The company added the leased facility would strengthen Zhongpin's position primarily in Tianjin, Beijing and Pohai Bay.

The facility, leased from Tianjin Shunli Enterprise, would come with world-class equipments, facilities and processing techniques, the company said. The facility has production capacity of up to 53,000 tonnes of chilled and frozen pork annually.

About 80 percent of capacity would be dedicated to the production of chilled pork and the other 20 percent would be dedicated to frozen pork.

One reason the company chose the Tianjin site is because the city is the third largest in China, and mainly middle class population who demand high-quality meat products, said Baoke Ben, Executive Vice President of Zhongpin Inc.

Zhongpin's distribution network spans more than 20 provinces in China and includes over 2,800 retail outlets. It also exports to the EU, Eastern Europe, Russia and other countries in north Asia.