Chinese dairy firm chooses site in New Zealand

WELLINGTON - Chinese dairy giant Yashili announced Tuesday it has found a site to build a dairy plant in New Zealand's North Island as part of an investment worth NZ$210 million ($176,69 million) to make infant formula for its home market.

Yashili New Zealand Dairy Co Ltd said its offer on the site at Pokeno, in the Waikato region, was conditional pending approval from New Zealand's Overseas Investment Office (OIO).

Operations manager Terry Norwood told Radio New Zealand the company had used New Zealand milk in its products for over 10 years.

He did not expect that the OIO process would take too long and Yashili hoped to be manufacturing products in New Zealand in the second half of 2014.

The Waikato District Council said on Tuesday it anticipated receiving the application for planning approval later this month.

Council regulatory general manager Nath Pritchard said in a statement that the application would be reviewed and processed in the normal way after a pre-application meeting with the company.