The facility, which in time will employ around 4,000 staff, has the capacity to process approximately 65m chickens per year, as well as 176,000 tonnes of poultry products. Cargill invested a total of around US$250m in the plant.
Work began in 2009 as part of a project by Cargill to bring modern processes to agriculture and food safety in China.
Gary Locke, the American ambassador to China called the opening “a shining example of how US-China agricultural co-operation can help China ensure that its people have a safe and reliable source of poultry while simultaneously strengthening our bilateral economic and agricultural ties.”
Chris Langholz, Cargill Animal Protein China’s president, added: “We wish to thrive together with China and help ensure the sustainable growth of China’s poultry industry.”