Unilever announced it is building a toothpaste plant in Hefei province, which will greatly improve the company’s production capacity and output in central China.

The 11,000-square-meter toothpaste plant, to be built in Unilever's Hefei industrial park production base, will produce toothpaste for the booming domestic market, as well as for export to places such as Japan.

"As one of the earliest enterprises stationed in the Hefei Economic Development Zone, Unilever has played a leading role in local economic development in the past decade," ?said Zhang Qingjun, deputy secretary of the Communist Party of China in Hefei and mayor of the city.

Last year, the global consumer products giant built one of its largest production bases in the Binhai New Area of Tianjin, which is expected to reach an annual production capacity of 100,000 tons. The new production base will produce items such as washing liquid and toothpaste for the Chinese market and for export to northeast Asian countries.

"Unilever is very committed to China and we have a very fast-growing business here," said Harish Manwani, president of the company's Asian and African divisions.