Taiwan-based food conglomerate, Uni-President China-Holdings, signed a contract Sunday to start a new plant in Shijiazhuang, the capital of Hebei province.

Located in Shijiazhuang New and High-Tech Industry Development Zone, the plant is to have a total investment of 70 million dollars.

The first phase of this project involves three bottle production lines. Construction is to start in September this year and finish before the end of 2011.

The first year of operation is expected to generate products worth 200 million yuan and contribute 13 million yuan of tax revenues. In the second year, the figures are expected to reach 350 million yuan and 27 million yuan respectively.

Uni-President China is planning to invest 1 billion yuan to expand its production capacity in the following two and half years. A Kunming plant in Southeast China’s Yunnan province started production in late May with a 50-million-yuan investment.

Uni-President Enterprises Corp, founded in Taiwan in 1967, is now a leading producer of instant noodles and the second largest producer of fruit drinks and instant teas in China.

 By Guo Changdong and Zhang Nan