Graphic Packaging Holding Company, Marietta, Ga., through its Japanese subsidiary, Graphic Packaging International Japan Limited, has signed an agreement with Hung Hing Printing Group Limited to jointly invest in an integrated paperboard packaging business in China. Under the agreement, a new joint venture company, Graphic Hung Hing Packaging (Shanghai) Co. Limited, has been formed and is based in Shanghai to provide beverage packaging and packaging machinery to beverage companies in China.

The agreement was signed in March and the new company began operations last month.

“The market in China is expected to grow substantially and our long-term strategy includes participating as a leading supplier to our existing customers and further developing a strong customer base there,” says David Scheible, president and ceo, Graphic Packaging Holding Company. “By establishing a joint venture with Hung Hing, a very well-respected and successful company in China, we will build a stronger foundation together upon which to implement our mutual strategies.”

The market for beverage packaging in China is expected to expand significantly as the economy grows and individual incomes continue to rise. Graphic Packaging International Japan estimates that demand for multi-pack beverage packaging in China will grow to approximately 15,000 tons of paperboard by 2010, around seven to eight times the 2007 figure.