The 5,000-square-metre facility will be located in Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu Province, supplying the neighbouring provinces of Gansu, Xinjiang, Ningxia, Qinghai and Tibet.

The US$12 million bottling plant is the company's 29th on the Chinese mainland and will have an annual production capacity of 24 million standard cases.

A slump in international sales has driven Coca-Cola to increase its focus on China, a market experiencing strong demand for fizzy drinks in the cities at least.

The company said recently that with current economic growth continuing apace, China should be its third biggest market by 2008.