Swire Coca-Cola opens two new plants

GUANGZHOU — Swire Coca-Cola's green and high-tech production base in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area officially opened in Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong province on Wednesday.

With an estimated investment of 1.25 billion yuan ($184.37 million) and a floor area of nearly 130,000 square meters, the plant is set to boost annual production capacity by around 66 percent, further improving supply efficiency for the GBA market.

The Guangzhou base is the second new facility launched by the firm within 24 hours. With a total planned investment of 2 billion yuan, the company's Kunshan new plant in Suzhou, East China's Jiangsu province, began operation on Tuesday.

The two new plants are equipped with more than 20 modern production lines in total, with a combined annual production capacity exceeding 3.1 million metric tons. Capable of manufacturing over 100 products under more than 20 brands, the expansion increases Swire Coca-Cola's total production capacity in the Chinese mainland by 10 percent.

Focused on green, digital and intelligent development, the two new facilities have rolled out operational processes for energy conservation and carbon reduction, water resource management and waste recycling, leveraging advanced technologies including the internet of things, big data and artificial intelligence.

"Through our green and intelligent upgrading and regional industrial coordination, Swire Coca-Cola is translating tangible investment into solid contributions to China's economic growth," said Hunter Jin, CEO of Swire Coca-Cola Greater China.

"We hope every step of our development will keep pace with China's high-quality development process."

The greatest development opportunity still lies in the long-term sound momentum of the Chinese market, the huge vitality of continuous consumption upgrading, as well as the policy environment that firmly expands domestic demand and encourages investment, Jin added.

As a wholly owned subsidiary of Swire Pacific Ltd, Swire Coca-Cola is the fifth-largest bottling group by sales volume in Coca-Cola's global bottling system.

XINHUA-CHINA DAILY