Food and beverage giant PepsiCo will invest US$1 billion in China over the next four years, part of a plan to expand in emerging markets. According to a company statement, the investment will fund a variety of capital programs to expand manufacturing capacity, particularly in interior and western areas of the country. It will also be used to expand local research and development facilities and build the company's sales force to broaden product distribution. "This is our larges investment in China in the nearly 30 years we have been doing business here, and it is consistent with our broader global strategy of investing in high-growth developing markets," says Indra Nooyi, PepsiCo's CEO. "We are enormously confident in the continued prosperity of China. We look forward to building an even brighter future here." The company did not release exact job creation figures, but says it expects the number to be in the thousands.