Soft drink rivals

In May, meanwhile, Coca-Cola unveiled a three-year plan to invest US$2 billion in China to expand its manufacturing and marketing activities.

The amount exceeds its total investment to date of US$1.6 billion over the past 30 years.

Coca-Cola opened two new plants in June in Jiangxi province and Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region at a cost of 100 million yuan and 110 million yuan, respectively.

Coca-Cola currently operates 38 bottling plants in China, and another bottling plant in Inner Mongolia is under construction.

Last year, China passed Mexico to become the third largest market for Coca-Cola.

"The vast middle and rural areas of China are to become the next arena of competition for the two soft drink giants," Ding said.

He added that non-sparkling drinks likely will become the focus of both companies.

Tropicana, the top non-sparkling juice brand by sales in the United States for PepsiCo, also is being promoted heavily in China.

Coca-Cola's Minute Maid juices are the top non-sparkling brand for Coca-Cola in China with a 30 percent market share, Ding said.

The two companies' juice-focused strategies are timely, analysts said.

Global market research company Euromonitor International reported that juice sales in China are expected to jump 94 percent between last year and 2012.

(China Daily July 20, 2009)