COFCO Group's grain and oil base project in North China - COFCO Jiayue - has begun construction in the Tianjin Lingang Industrial Zone with about RMB 4 billion (US$584.5 million) in total investment.

Upon completion, its annual raw material processing capacity will reach 1.2 million tonnes.

COFCO has earmarked RMB 1.5 billion (US$219.4 million) in estimated investment for the first phase. Once the base is fully operational, it will be able to process 1.32 million tonnes of grain materials, produce 1.02 million tonnes of soy and 240,000 tonnes of oil annually.