A Shanghai-based subsidiary of Japanese confectionery company Ezaki Glico Co. will set up a factory management unit in the city on Jan. 1 next year.

Shanghai Ezaki Glico Foods Co. will fully own the new company, which is scheduled to have capital of 100 million yuan (about 1.69 billion yen), and take over one of its two factories located in China's most populous city, according to Ezaki Glico.

The planned launch of the new factory management firm is aimed at speeding up the group's decision-making process and swiftly addressing safety and quality issues in the Chinese market, Ezaki Glico said, adding it has no plans to expand its production capacity in China.

Shanghai Ezaki Glico Foods was formed in 1995 before the Osaka-based confectioner added another Chinese subsidiary, Shanghai Ezaki Glico Nanfeng Foods Co., which has one factory, in 2006.

Ezaki Glico makes such long-selling products as "Pocky" chocolate-covered biscuit sticks and pretzel-like "Pretz" snacks as well as "Pejoy" chocolate biscuit sticks tailored to markets outside Japan, at the Shanghai factories. (NNA/Kyodo)

==Kyodo

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