SHENYANG - The world's top soft drink producer Coca-Cola has said it will expand its production scale over the next 10 years in China.

David G. Brooks, the president of Coca-Cola's Greater China and Korean branches, made the announcement at an opening ceremony of the company's new bottling plant in the northeastern Liaoning province on Thursday.

The company is scheduled to build two to three bottling plants every year in the following 10 years while the number of its employees will double within five years, Brooks said.

Coca-Cola will invest a total of $4 billion in the Chinese market during the next three years. Catering to the local customers' taste, the company will launch new products while further develop its current brands such as Sprite and Fanta.

As the Chinese government is striving to develop the rural areas, Coca-Cola will explore the country's potential rural markets in the future, Brooks said.