Zhongpin Inc. to Build New Pork Plant in Tangshan, Hebei Province

CHANGGE and BEIJING, China, June 9, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- Zhongpin Inc. ("Zhongpin",Nasdaq: HOGS), a leading meat and food processing company in the People's Republic of China, today announced that Zhongpin will further expand into north China by building a new production facility in Tangshan city, Hebei province, east of Beijing.

Zhongpin will invest about $49 million for the plant that will have an annual capacity to produce about 60,000 metric tons of chilled pork, 20,000 tons of frozen pork, and 22,000 tons of prepared pork products, for a total annual capacity of 102,000 metric tons. The facility, based on Zhongpin's proven industrial cluster model, also will include cold storage with a capacity of 6,000 tons and a cold chain logistics and distribution center. It will also serve as the foundation for additional expansion in the future.

Construction is scheduled to start in the third quarter 2011, with production of chilled and frozen pork expected to start in the third quarter 2012 and production of prepared pork products expected to start in the second quarter 2013. The payback period for this facility is around 5 years.

Mr. Xianfu Zhu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Zhongpin, said, "This expansion is our second production cluster in north China, and marks a significant step in our industrial cluster strategy. This new facility will serve the Bohai Bay area, including Beijing, Tianjin, and the Hebei province, which are important strategic markets in our expansion roadmap.

"The Tangshan facility, together with our modern and highly-standardized Tianjin facility, will constitute our new industrial cluster circle to further support the rapid growth of our company, the expansion of our cold-chain logistics network, and the overall consolidation and modernization of the Chinese pork industry.

"This new facility has an excellent location, with a sufficient supply of hogs, a developed hog breeding industry on which we can expand, and access to markets with large populations that have strong purchasing power to consume pork products in both north China and northeast China. The Tangshan area also has a sound industrial base, which is also helpful to our business."

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 China covers 20 provinces plus Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, and Chongqing and includes 3,378 retail outlets. Zhongpin's export markets include Europe, Hong Kong, and other countries in Asia. For more information about Zhongpin, please visit Zhongpin's website at http://www.zpfood.com.

Safe harbor statement

Certain statements in this news release may be 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 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 from www.sec.gov or from Zhongpin's website at www.zpfood.com.

You are urged to consider these factors carefully in evaluating Zhongpin's forward-looking statements and are cautioned not to place undue reliance on those forward-looking statements, which are 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.