Zhongpin and China Construction Bank Sign Strategic Cooperation Agreement

CHANGGE and BEIJING, China, April 15, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- Zhongpin Inc. (Nasdaq: HOGS), a leading meat and food processing company in the People's Republic of China, today announced the signing of a strategic cooperation agreement (the "Agreement") with China Construction Bank.

Under the Agreement, China Construction Bank, Henan Branch will provide approximately RMB 10 billion in loans and financial services to assist the company in its growth.

Mr. Xianfu Zhu, Chairman and CEO of Zhongpin, said, "We are gratified and honored that China Construction Bank, one of the largest state owned banks in China, is showing its confidence in our operations and faith in our growth potential by lending its substantial financial support to our business. Despite some issues affecting our industry, Zhongpin's operational performance benefited from the "clenbuterol pork scandal" through increased sales volumes and additional clients. Coming on the heels of our successful follow-on equity offering, this substantial vote of confidence from China Construction Bank gives us great comfort as we continue to invest to grow and expand our business and market share."      

About Zhongpin

Zhongpin Inc. is a meat and food processing company that specializes in pork and pork products, vegetables, and fruits in China. Its distribution network in the China covers 20 provinces plus Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, and Chongqing and includes more than 3,300 retail outlets. Zhongpin's export markets include the Europe, Hong Kong, and certain countries in Asia. For more information, please visit www.zpfood.com.

Safe harbor statement

Certain statements in this news release are forward-looking statements made under the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Zhongpin has based its forward-looking statements largely on its current expectations and projections about future events and trends that it believes may affect its business strategy, results of operations, financial condition, and financing needs. These forward-looking statements can be recognized by the use of words such as "anticipates," "estimates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "projects," "will," or words of similar meaning. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are based on a number of assumptions about the Zhongpin's operations, and are subject to risks, uncertainties, and other factors beyond the Zhongpin's control.

These projections involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements, which may include but are not limited to such factors as downturns in the Chinese economy, unanticipated changes in product demand, interruptions in the supply of live pigs and or raw pork, the effects of weather on hog feed production, poor performance of the retail distribution network, delivery delays, freezer facility malfunctions, Zhongpin's ability to build and commence new production facilities according to intended timelines, the ability to prepare Zhongpin for growth, the ability to predict Zhongpin's future financial performance and financing ability, changes in regulations, and other information detailed in Zhongpin's filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. These filings are available at www.sec.gov or at www.zpfood.com.

You are urged to consider these factors carefully in evaluating Zhongpin's forward-looking statements, whether written or oral, and whether made by or on behalf of Zhongpin, and are cautioned not to place undue reliance on those forward-looking statements, which are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. All information provided in this news release is as of the date of this release. Zhongpin does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by law.

SOURCE Zhongpin Inc.