(Yicai Global) July 17 -- French food giant Danone is to invest EUR100 million (USD114 million) in its specialized nutrition business in China, to further the range of its nutritional products and services to meet China’s health needs.

The funds will be used to acquire the Murray Goulburn Dairy in Qingdao, eastern Shandong province from Saputo Dairy Australia, giving the Paris-based firm its first production facility for infant milk formula in China and a registered infant milk formula brand.

Danone, which entered the Chinese market in the 1980s, will support its advanced medical nutrition facility in Wuxi, eastern Jiangsu province to further develop its Food for Special Medical Purposes, which means food for people whose nutritional requirements cannot be met by normal foods.

It will also set up an open-science research center in Shanghai.

China is Danone's second-largest market, accounting for nearly 10 percent of the group’s global sales last year.

Editor: Kim Taylor