SHIJIAZHUANG — Coca-Cola's biggest bottling plant in North China began operating Thursday in Xianghe county of Hebei province, southeast of Beijing.

The plant will produce bottled water, Coke and Sprite, mainly to serve Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei and neighboring regions, according to Luan Xiuju, president of COFCO Coca-Cola Beverages, a joint venture of Coca-Cola and China's COFCO Corporation.

The first phase of the plant involved investment of 500 million yuan ($76 million).

As Coca-Cola's third-largest market, China offers exciting opportunities and the firm has full confidence in the Chinese market, said James Quincey, president and chief executive officer of Coca-Cola.

Quincey said the firm will continue to work with COFCO to offer new products for Chinese consumers.