Food packaging giant Tetra Pak International SA plans to open another two factories in China in the next few years to boost production capacity in one of its largest markets.

The Swedish company said over the weekend that it aims to open five new plants in the world over the next three to four years, among which two will be built in China if growth in the country's dairy industry stays strong.

"We've settled seven major strategic points for Tetra Pak's global market, and China is one of them," Executive Vice President Nils Bjorkman said on Saturday.

"We continue to see strong growth in China, which has gone from having nearly no dairy industry to the fastest growing market in the world."

Tetra Pak said in August it will invest an additional 30 million euros (US$38.7 million) in China to expand production at its Beijing plant. The company aims to double the annual capacity at its Beijing factory to 16 billion packages a year.

When the project is completed next year, the company's total investment in China will hit two billion yuan (US$250 million).

China is already Tetra Pak's largest individual market in terms of packages sold.

The packaging company runs four factories in the country, one each in Shanghai, Beijing, Kunshan in Jiangsu Province and Foshan, Guangdong Province.

China's dairy industry has been expanding by 27 percent each month for the past half year, according to the International Dairy Federation.

The dairy industry generated 89.1 billion yuan last year, 10.6 times more than 10 years ago. China accounts for 50 percent of the world's dairy growth over the past five years.

Within the industry, 40 percent of the milk is freshly packaged milk, or ordinary pasteurized milk which needs to be chilled in the refrigerator, while 60 percent is Ultra High Temperature pasteurized milk which uses production equipment and packages offered by companies including Tetra Pak and SIG Combibloc International AG and can remain fresh for several months without refrigeration.

SIG Combibloc International AG, the world's second largest supplier of aseptic beverage cartons, opened its first plant in China at the end of 2004.

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