Nutrition firms see healthy market for extracts

China is becoming increasingly important to Herbalife Nutrition's global business map, a key executive of the global nutrition company has said.

The firm's Changsha factory has been playing a critical role in its global production, as well as in research and development, and the further opening-up of the Chinese market offers more potential to tap, said Zheng Qunyi, chairman of Herbalife Nutrition China, on Thursday.

"Plant extracts from China are now a key factor contributing to our large global product portfolio," Zheng said, adding the Changsha factory now produces about 700 metric tons of plant extract annually, and about 80 to 90 percent of the extracts are exported as ingredients for the global market.