(Yicai Global) May 15 -- Wahaha Group, one of China’s largest food and beverage companies, has invested billions of yuan in a new online healthcare business, Beijing News reported today, citing founder Zong Qinghou.

The Hangzhou-based company will launch an e-commerce platform next month to sell products in the nutritional, weight management, health care, skin care, and personal care categories, the report said. It will sell Wahaha’s own products and gradually invite well-known domestic and foreign brands to join.

The first phase of Wahaha’s healthcare product plant has gone into operation, and the second stage is under construction, Zong said, adding that the firm’s 34-floor e-commerce building will be completed by the end of next month and can accommodate thousands of office staff.

To expand the platform, Wahaha plans to recruit 100,000 young people as dealers, and provide them with CNY50,000 (USD7,040) to CNY100,000 in subsidized loans as startup funds and to overcome difficulties in job-hunting.

Editor: Peter Thomas