PepsiCo unveils its first food production base in Xi'an, Shaanxi province on Wednesday. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The US multinational food and beverage company PepsiCo broke ground on its first food production base in Xi'an, Northwest China's Shaanxi province on Wednesday.

This new facility, with a projected total investment of $180 million, marks PepsiCo's fifth major investment in China over the past five years.

The facility is designed to meet international "net-zero emissions" standards and is expected to begin trial operations in September 2025, with an anticipated production capacity of around 25,000 tons to cater to the growing market demand across seven provinces in Northwest China, PepsiCo said.

Anne Tse, CEO of PepsiCo Greater China and chief consumer officer of PepsiCo Asia-Pacific, said the company has full confidence in the high-level opening-up of the Chinese market and the high-quality development of the Chinese economy.

As a leading global food and beverage company, PepsiCo said it is committed to accelerating its investment in China with a record of five new plants over five years, and it aims to provide consumers with higher-quality products, said Tse.

According to her, PepsiCo will continue to "root in China, work with China, and serve China", leveraging its industrial chain cluster effect to contribute to China's economic and social development.

The Shaanxi food production base is PepsiCo's 10th food factory in China, with an initial investment of $80 million and an initial construction area of about 32,000 square meters. The facility will feature two new automated potato chip production lines, along with supporting infrastructure including warehouses, cold storage, power facilities, and wastewater treatment systems, the company said.

As a new digital and intelligent demonstration factory, the base will introduce advanced automation technologies in production, packaging, and warehousing, contributing to local industrial upgrades and talent development, PepsiCo added.