Coca-Cola wants 'to be everywhere'

With an investment of 1 billion yuan ($163 million), the new Yingkou plant in Liaoning province opened in 2012, and will be the largest bottling plant once it's fully operational. Coca-Cola now operates 42 plants in China.

David G Brooks, president of Coca-Cola Greater China & Korea, said this year will see the opening of another new plant in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province, part of the infrastructure investment serving as the company's solid and distinctive competitive edge in China.

On their expansion strategy in China, Brooks said, "We want to be everywhere."

Three major bottling partners - COFCO Coca-Cola Beverages, Swire Beverages and Coca-Cola Bottling Investment Group China - provide Coca-Cola with a unique resource advantage and development in the vast country, the president said.

Growing with the pace of the country's reform and opening-up policies, the company's plants have expanded from coastal cities in the east in the early days; extended to interior areas, including Wuhan and Zhengzhou, in Central China in the 1990s; and then taken opportunities to explore the central, western and rural markets, he said.

To further penetrate its distribution channels into more grassroots areas, the company has focused on enhancing "consumer experience" with about 8 million retail outlets in China by making its products affordable and accessible for their consumers.

"We plan to increase our investment in marketing, in distribution channels and in our operations centers," he said. "This is the best way to get our products to our consumers."