November 12, 2003

China First Soybean Technology Center To Locate in Heilongjiang Province

American Oriental Bioengineering Inc., a leading soybean nutraceutical company, announced yesterday it would establish China's first soybean technology center to be located in HeiLongjiang Province, where one third of China's soybeans are produced.

Upon completion, the company expects the new center will be able to produce an additional 2 million tons of soybeans and soybean protein peptide related products each year or around 15% of China's total production capacity.

The 5 million square foot, state-of-the-art technology center will also boast 1 million acres of land for soybean cultivation purposes. At the new center, American Oriental Bioengineering will perform advanced research on improving the soybean species, with the goal of further cultivation of the species.

The company will sell soybeans as a raw material worldwide and will also use refined soybeans to produce its own high volume, high value proprietary products, such as soybean protein peptide, through value added processing and extractions.

Shujun Liu, Chief Executive Officer of American Oriental Bioengineering, commented, "This is another important development for us. We have been at the forefront of the nutraceutical market from research all the way through product commercialization and distribution. Our plan is to get the new facility online as fast as possible in order to significantly expand our production capacity to meet the growing demand for nutraceuticals worldwide. With 1 million acres of land for soybean cultivation purposes, our new facility will allow us to capture increased revenue opportunities and expand on American Oriental Bioengineering's leadership position in the nutraceutical market."