Zhongpin to Open New Pork Plant in January 2010
CHINA - Zhongpin Inc. yesterday announced it would begin production in its new chilled and frozen pork plant in Tianjin on 20 January 2010.Zhongpin's construction of its new chilled and frozen pork processing plant in Tianjin has been accelerated. The new facility will begin initial pork production on 20 January. When all the construction phases are completed in 2010, the Tianjin plant will have an annual capacity of 100,000 metric tons for chilled and frozen pork.
Mr Xianfu Zhu, Chairman and CEO of Zhongpin, said, "We are very pleased that our new pork plant in Tianjin will begin producing in mid January, ahead of schedule, which will help satisfy the nation's surging demand for chilled and frozen pork during the peak season of the Chinese New Year and Spring Festival, which in 2010 runs from 14 February through 28 February and is also celebrated before and after those dates.
"We are confident that our high product quality, good retail locations, and dependable pork supply will please our customers in Tianjin, Beijing, and the other markets in northern China who will be served by the new Tianjin plant. We already serve these markets, and our new plant will guarantee better service and broader market coverage. Our timing should give us good market share gains as we expand our presence in this important high-growth region."
Under China's five-year plan for 2006 though 2010, the Tianjin Binhai New Area is becoming the country's third growth-and-development region for the next two decades, just as the Pearl River Delta and Yangtze River Delta regions grew in the past two decades. The government's support, incentives, and direct investment in infrastructure in the Tianjin Binhai New Area will create new growth for both China's northern region and its national economy.
In addition, Tianjin serves as the land logistics center and ocean shipping port for much of northern China, so Tianjin, and Zhongpin, will benefit directly from the growth in the region.
China expects its national economy to grow about 9 per cent in 2010. That higher growth should help enable higher pork consumption and give Zhongpin additional support for its market expansions.
Mr Zhu continued, "Our new Tianjin plant will not only serve the northern China market, it also serves another function. In locating, designing, engineering, and constructing the plant and our regional cold-chain logistics network, we have focused on creating the best master template for our future plants and distribution networks. It incorporates all the knowledge and wisdom we have about how to produce and distribute the most outstanding and safest pork products at the most cost-effective prices.
"So the Tianjin plant is our model for the future and is an important strategic step forward for Zhongpin. We expect to duplicate the construction, systems designs, and details from the Tianjin plant and network as we extend our high-volume success from our home region in central China into the northern and other regional markets of China."