Coca-Cola looks local for China expansion

Beijing - Coca-Cola, the world's largest maker of non-alcoholic beverages, has launched a research center in Beijing to develop local products using Chinese herbal ingredients and formulas.

The Atlanta-based company announced the opening of the Research Center for Chinese Medicine within the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences yesterday (Sunday 14 October).

Coke said the research center was part of the company's long-term collaboration agreement with the academy.

"The research center will leverage the company's research expertise and the academy's team of researchers and state-of-the-art scientific technologies and focus on developing beverages using Chinese herbal ingredients and formulas," Coke said in a statement.

Coca-Cola's vice president and chief scientific and regulatory officer, Rhona Applebaum and the president of the academy Hongxin Cao, added that the move connects the company's global reach and marketing with Chinese medicine's "more holistic view on health."