PepsiCo will make an additional investment of $2.5 billion in China over the next three years, Chairman and CEO Indra Nooyi said while visiting the Shanghai expo.
This will be in addition to the $1 billion investment announced by Pepsico last November, she said.
"The investment means China is a very, very important market for PepsiCo and we want to be here for a very, very, very long time. PepsiCo wants to invest in China and with China for long-term and consistent goals," the official Shanghai daily quoted her as saying.
The new investment will go into building new plants, large-scale expansion of research and development operations, agricultural expansion and branding initiatives.
PepsiCo will also build a "world-class R&D centre in China", tailored for Asia, as well as its first global-level R&D centre in China, in a bid to broaden its portfolio of products for Chinese consumers.
China is PepsiCo's largest market outside the US and also its fastest growing market.
PepsiCo plans to open 14 new plants for soft drinks, non-carbonated beverages and snacks in China.
It will also add production lines at existing facilities.
In response to the Chinese government's new guidelines on promoting foreign investment, the company said it will build the new plants in the central and western regions, including Fujian, Gansu, Henan and Yunnan provinces.
PepsiCo currently operates 27 beverage and food plants throughout China and has more than 20,000 employees nationwide.
All new PepsiCo plants in China will copy the green beverage model of its plant in Chongqing municipality, which opened last year.
The Chongqing plant, also the first "green" beverage plant in China that has received LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification, uses 22 per cent less water and 23 per cent less energy on average than other PepsiCo plants in the nation.
PepsiCo said its first quarter revenue jumped 13 per cent from a year earlier and snack sales rose 1 per cent, boosted by growth in markets such as India and China, which helped offset a 0.5 percent decline in its beverage business.
Coca-Cola, the world's leading beverage company and also PepsiCo's direct competitor, has been boosting its investment in China despite the financial crisis.
Last March, Coca-Cola announced its plans to invest $2 billion over the next three years in China.