Coca-Cola to Increase Chinese Investment by US $4 Billion

Muhtar Kent, president and CEO of the Coca-Cola Company, announced that the soft drink producer will pour in another US $4 billion into its Chinese operation in the coming three years. "We are excited by our achievements in China but we are even more excited about our prospects there in the coming years," he told Xinhua. The additional funds were committed after the US $2 billion investment the company made in China between 2009 and 2011. Topping previous input, Coca-cola will have spent US $9 billion in China by 2014, the 35th year of its return to the Chinese market. Mr. Kent said the extra US $4 billion have been earmarked for construction of new factories, production lines, logistics, R&D, and innovation and marketing. So far the company has set up 41 bottling plants in 30 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government, employing 48,000 workers, of whom 99 percent are Chinese. China now generates seven percent of Coca-Cola's global sales, and the growth here is the third fastest in the world, following the United States and Mexico. Kent said he "is convinced" that China will become the beverage giant's largest market in the world.