Cargill Inc, the United States-based agricultural and industrial conglomerate, has opened its first China poultry production base in Chuzhou, Anhui province, with an investment of $250 million.

The project, initiated in 2009, is part of Cargill's ongoing strategy to further diversify in China. It has the capacity to process 65 million chickens and 176,000 tons of poultry products annually, about 1 percent of China's poultry production capacity.

Chris Langholz, president of Cargill animal protein China, said for new growth drivers, the most obvious is the modernization of livestock and the food supply chain.