Swire Coca-Cola increases investment to expand production in Chinese coastal city

Non-alcoholic beverages manufacturer Swire Coca-Cola has invested over 150 million yuan (about 23.3 million U.S. dollars) in the eastern Chinese coastal city of Xiamen to tap the market potential of the city and beyond.

The investment includes two programs, the eighth production line and the warehouse expansion in Xiamen, according to Swire Coca-Cola Beverages Xiamen Ltd.

The eighth production line was put into operation Friday. It has a production speed of 54,000 bottles per hour, 3,000 per hour more than the lines being used now, and can produce a maximum of 1.3 million bottles per day, the company said.

The warehouse expansion program was launched on the same day. The company will build a 13,000 square meters' warehouse to expand the storage capacity.

Billy Zhang, director and general manager of the company, said that the investment indicated that the company was confident about the market in Fujian Province, which administers Xiamen, and the whole country.

"The new line has adopted the leading technology in the world and we hope it will promote the beverage industry's development in Fujian," he said.

Established in 1996, Swire Coca-Cola Beverages Xiamen Ltd. has a total initial investment of nearly 52.74 million U.S. dollars. The company has over 2,000 employees and an annual turnover of 2 billion yuan.