CHANGGE, CHINA — Zhongpin Inc. announced production is going smoothly at its new Tianjin plant for chilled and frozen pork. It also expects higher market prices, which is consistent with the rise in demand for chilled and frozen pork as China approaches the start of the Chinese New Year on Feb. 14.

China's Spring Festival continues for two weeks of celebrating after Chinese New Year and will end on Feb. 28. During this time, demand for pork, China's favorite protein food, is traditionally at its annual peak.


Zhongpin's new chilled and frozen pork plant's production capacity is 100,000 metric tons per year, of which 70% will be chilled pork and 30% will be frozen pork. As a result, Zhongpin now has an annual production capacity of 541,760 metric tons for chilled and frozen pork.

China's G.D.P. grew 8.7% in 2009 and 10.7% in the fourth quarter of 2009, China's National Bureau of Statistics recently stated. China's Center for Forecasting Science at the Chinese Academy of Sciences expects China's G.D.P. to grow 11% in the first quarter 2010 and around 10% in 2010.

During the past two weeks, hog and pork prices have been trending upward, and company executives expect this is the turning point of the hog and pork prices in 2010.

Zhongpin Inc. is a meat and food processing company specializing in pork and pork products, fruits and vegetables in China. Its distribution network in the China covers 20 provinces plus Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, and Chongqing and includes more than 3,000 retail outlets. Zhongpin's export markets include the European Union and Southeast Asia.