Zhongpin reports record third quarter results

"Our exceptional financial performance in the third quarter resulted from the strong demand for our high-quality products and the additional capacity added by the Luoyang plant, which came on line at the beginning of the third quarter. During the quarter, China's hog industry benefited from the government's constructive policies, resulting in an increased supply of hogs and a moderation in live hog prices," commented Mr. Xianfu Zhu, CEO of Zhongpin.

"As Chinese consumers continue to place more focus on food safety issues, we believe Zhongpin's reputation as a high quality, premium brand provides us with a significant competitive advantage. As we enter our peak season in the fourth quarter, we believe we are poised to benefit from increased capacity, strong demand and our expanding retail distribution network."

Zhongpin continues to move forward with its expansion plans and is currently building a chilled and frozen pork facility in Shangqiu City in eastern Henan Province, which is expected to begin operations in January of 2009 and will expand Zhongpin's annual capacity for chilled and frozen pork by 80,000 metric tonnes.

"We believe the market fundamentals of China's pork industry remain favourable despite the recent global economic slowdown. Pork consumption in China's rural and urban areas is expected to increase due to a growing demand for high quality and safe food products. Zhongpin's sophisticated quality control standards, advanced cold-chain logistics, and hygienic production processes instil consumer confidence regarding the quality of our products.

"In addition, the Chinese government's recent reforms designed to improve the overall health of the rural economy should provide additional market opportunities for Zhongpin by fostering the development of value-added agricultural products, modernizing the agricultural industry and increasing the living standards of farmers," said Zhu.

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