Nestle, the world's largest food and drink company, has announced that it will end its 10-year cooperation with Coca-Cola in the beverage market in China.

The two companies each invested a 50% stake in a joint venture — Beverage Partners Worldwide — in 2001, mainly selling their Lemon Tea and Original Leaf Tea brands in China. Nestle will take back the Lemon Tea brand in the second half of this year, while Original Leaf Tea will be retrieved by Coca-Cola after the partnership is dissolved.

Roland Decorvet, CEO of Nestle China, said that in the future the joint venture will focus its business on the United States and Canada. For the beverage business in China, both companies will handle operations separately, Decorvet said, adding that the Switzerland-based company will seek a Chinese partner to produce the company's tea products in China as the company has not invested in any production lines in the country.

Meanwhile, Nestle has announced that the company has cooperated with the city of Shuangcheng in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang to invest 250 million yuan (US$396 million) to transform its livestock breeding model for large-scale and standardized farming.