Wrigley opens factory in Guangzhou

Chewing gum maker Wrigley's newest factory officially started operations on Thursday in the Yonghe economic zone of the Guangzhou Economic and Technological Development District, the Guangzhou Daily newspaper reported.

Wrigley Confectionery (China) Ltd owns three factories in China, with two of them in Guangzhou.

The company said that the new plant in Yonghe is the largest, most technologically advanced and most environmentally friendly in its global supply chain.

The first-stage investment at the Yonghe factory was 1.08 billion yuan ($173.4 million), and when the second- and third-stage projects are put into production, which is expected to happen in 2016, the annual production capacity of Wrigley China will increase 60 percent.

China is the world's second-largest confectionery market after the United States.