University collaborates with China drinks company

The University of Nottingham has signed a memorandum of agreement to undertake research and development work with the Chinese soft-drinks company Wahaha.

Formed in 1987, Wahaha has 60 production bases in 29 provinces in China, employs 30,000 people and last year achieved a turnover in excess of £6.8 billion. The business has been the market leader in China’s beverage industry for the last 14 years.

Under the five-year agreement, The University of Nottingham and Wahaha will establish joint research centres to work in a number of areas, ranging from bioenergy technology to animal feed, food technologies, electrical motors, and robotics.

The first stage will be the development of a jointly run Electrical Motor Research Institute in the city of Hangzhou, China, where Wahaha is based. This will be opened in the autumn and the intention is that this will be followed by a research centre in Nottingham in 2013.

Mr Zong Qinghou, the Chairman and General Manager of Wahaha, who is also one of China’s most successful entrepreneurs, visited The University of Nottingham with a team of technical specialists from his organisation to explore ways in which the two organisations could work together.

Professor Chris Rudd, Pro-Vice Chancellor for Business Engagement and Knowledge Transfer at the University said: “We are very excited about the collaboration with Wahaha. It is an outstanding business in the food and drink sector, and the University will work with the business to develop a pipeline of technologies that can be developed into products for the Chinese market.