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原文链接
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e262565c-0a73-11de-95ed-0000779fd2ac.html?nclick_check=1
原文
Coca-Cola in new China push
By Patti Waldmeir in Shanghai Published: March 6 2009 17:37 | Last updated: March 6 2009 17:37
Coca-Cola will invest $2bn in China over the next three years and expects to maintain double-digit growth in that market, Muhtar Kent, chief executive, said on Friday in an interview.
News of fresh spending by Coke in China – which has recently become the drinks maker’s third largest market behind the US and Mexico – comes as debate grows over whether Beijing is spending enough to stimulate domestic consumption and ward off a precipitous slowdown in the Chinese economy.
Coke’s $2bn investment will exceed the company’s total investment in China since 1979, which amounts to $1.6bn.
The company’s announcement comes at a time when Coke is waiting for a decision from the Chinese authorities on whether it can proceed with a proposed $2.4bn takeover of China Huiyuan Juice group, a Hong Kong-listed company that boasts a 42 per cent share of China’s pure fruit juice market and is one of China’s best known drinks brands.
The deal, which would be the largest foreign takeover of a Chinese company, has come under nationalist-inspired criticism on the internet and in the press and will pose the biggest test so far of China’s new anti-monopoly law which took effect last August.
Mr Kent said Coke remained in close contact with the regulatory authorities, but refused further comment.
Investors are watching the decision closely for signs of hostility toward foreign takeovers of well-known brands.
Mr Kent yesterday opened Coke’s new $90m headquarters complex in Shanghai, which includes its largest research and development centre in Asia.
He said Coke had so far “only scratched the surface” of the Chinese market.
Coca-Cola volume sales in China grew 29 per cent in the fourth quarter of last year.
China’s per capita consumption of ready-to-drink beverages remains only about a third of the global average, he said.
With 300m-350m Chinese expected to join the ranks of the middle class by 2020 – and with China expected to account for a large chunk of world urbanisation of 1bn by 2020 – Coke’s China growth will remain strong in spite of “some slowing down of the economic pace”.
He said he expected China to take over as Coke’s largest market in about a decade, noting that the company had recently brought that date forward to around 2018, from 2020-2025 previously.
Mr Kent said he remained “cautiously optimistic” about Coke’s global business during the current economic crisis, but “excited” about long-term prospects, noting that beverages are a defensive business in a downturn.
翻译
可口可乐公司在中国新的推进计划
可口可乐公司在未来的三年内将在中国投资20亿美元,预计市场会保持两位数的增长,Muhtar Kent,可口可乐董事长上周五接受采访时说。
关于可口可乐在中国最近的消费额的新闻说,中国最近已经成为饮料制造商的第三大市场,仅次于美国和墨西哥。
中国最近已经成为仅次于美国跟墨西哥的可口可乐消费的第三大市场,此时正值北京讨论是否增加足够的开支来刺激国内消费和抵御中国经济的急速放缓。
可口可乐20亿美元的投资将超过该公司自1979年以来16亿美元的在华投资总额。
该公司的宣布正值可口可乐公司等待中共当局批准其是否能够用24亿美元收购中国汇源果汁集团,汇源果汁集团是香港上市公司,拥有中国纯果汁市场百分之二十四的份额,是中国最出名的果汁品牌。
根据协议,这将是外国公司收购中国公司的最大案例,此举在互联网和媒体上受到了民族主义者的批评,迄今为止最大的考验是去年八月开始生效的中国新的反垄断法。
肯特先生说,目前为止可口可乐公司与监管当局保持着密切的联系,但他拒绝做出进一步的评论。
投资者正在密切关注敌视外国企业收购知名品牌的迹象。
肯特先生昨天为可口可乐在上海的新总部大楼揭幕,该总部耗资9000万美元,其中包括亚洲最大的研发中心。
他说,可口可乐目前至今只是触及中国市场的表面。
可口可乐公司在华销售量去年第四季度增长了百分之二十九。
中国即饮饮料的人均消费量仍然大约只有全球平均水平的三分之一,他说。
预期到2010年3-5亿中国人将迈入中产阶层,到2020年中国城市化进程将达到10亿,占世界总体绝大部分,尽管“经济步伐有些放慢”但可口可乐中国公司的增长将持续强势。
他预计中国十年后将成为可口可乐最大的市场,他指出公司已经将这一日期从2020年至2025年提前至2018年。
肯特先生说,他对目前经济危机下可口可乐的全球业务仍然谨慎乐观,他对长远前景仍然乐观,并且指出饮料业在经济下滑中是抗风险性较强的行业。 |
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