China remains world's top instant noodle consumer

TIANJIN - China remained the world's top consumer of instant noodles last year with more than 100 million packs of instant noodles being consumed every day, officials and industry experts said Sunday.

China also produced 48.38 billion packs of instant noodles last year, chalking up revenue of 55.78 billion yuan ($8.85 billion), Wang Liming, an official with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said at an international industry workshop held in Tianjin.

China produces more than half of the world's instant noodles, experts say.

Wei Yingzhou, chairman of the Taiwan-based Master Kang Company, which hosted the workshop, said, however, that the instant noodle industry is facing tremendous pressure in terms of growth. Adverse factors range from the global economic downturn, rising costs, food safety scandals and growing health concerns among consumers, he said.

Master Kang on Sunday also unveiled a factory in Tianjin that is expected to produce 5 billion packs of instant noodles annually, more than the total combined output of all instant noodle factories in Japan.