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John Landgraf, executive vice president of nutritional products for Abbott, recently presented at China International Food Safety & Quality Conference 2012 and said the company is building a state-of-the-art nutrition manufacturing plant in Jiaxing.

Prior to this, Abbott announced plans to invest USD230 million to build a new modern nutrition manufacturing plant in Jiaxing, Zhejiang province. This is reportedly the company's largest investment in the country and the plant is expected to be put into operation in 2013, providing high-end nutritional products to Chinese consumers.

When completed, the plant will become Abbott's first fully integrated spray drying, blending and packaging facility in China. Products made at the new Abbott manufacturing facility in Jiaxing will contain the same quality ingredients, and undergo the same testing standards, as Abbott products made at the company's other facilities across the world.

Landgraf revealed to Chinese local media that the new Jiaxing plant will focus on the production of infant formula as well as adult nutrient products. However, he did not disclose the specific annual production capacity.

Compared with other foreign milk powder enterprises, Abbott is a late starter in the Chinese market. Mead Johnson built its first Chinese factory in Guangzhou in 1993; at the same time, Nestle built its plants in Shuangcheng and Tianjin, respectively; and Dumex also launched its plant in Shanghai years ago. Abbott constructed its first Chinese plant in Guangzhou in 2009. Though a nutritional product factory, it is only responsible for some milk powder packaging.