British Sugar Company Expands Stake in China VentureRepresentatives of Sino-British Boqing Foodstuffs Co. Ltd. in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region October14 signed a contract to take over the region's Huaiyuan Sugar Refinery.After the takeover, the total assets of Boqing Foodstuffs Co. Ltd, a joint venture between China and British Sugar Corp (Overseas), will amount to 498 million yuan (about 60 million U.S. dollars), and its daily production capacity will also be enlarged to 11,000 tons. British Sugar Corp (Overseas) is a subsidiary of Associated British Foods Ltd. and is mainly engaged in expanding sugar-related business outside Britain. It will control 60 percent of the enlarged joint venture's stake while the Chinese partner will take up the remaining 40 percent of the stake. Boqing Foodstuffs Co. Ltd, founded five years ago, is the only venture that makes sugar in Asia that has received the ISO9002 certificate of authentication for practicing standardized management in production. With the application of a great number of advanced technology and equipment, the joint venture has kept making profits despite the fact that most sugar refineries in China have reported deficit.Shareholders on both sides drew first dividends recently. Both British and Chinese shareholders of the joint venture pledged that they would carry out technical upgrading in the newly merged sugar refinery, and would also make efforts to improve varieties of sugarcanes, prolong the sugar cane pressing season for sugar refining companies to lower production cost and to raise economic returns. Situated in subtropical areas in south China, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region has become one of China's leading sugar producers. It produces more than 3 million tons of sugar annually, accounting for 40 percent of China's total sugar output. |
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