The survey, which questioned people between the age of seven to 18 from 29 cities of the Asian-Pacific region, said that Pepsi has a stylish appearance.

Insiders noted that the result is largely due to the efforts of PepsiCo Inc. in the last several years in supporting China's pop culture. The efforts of PepsiCo Inc. include sponsoring China's Series A Soccer matches, and selecting pop stars to endorse the product, such as "the coolest" Hong Kong female pop singer Faye Wong.

Coca Cola, Pepsi's competitor, is also actively aiming to attract young Chinese. Coca Cola holds one fourth of China's soft-drink market, with its investment in China totaling US$1.1 billion.

Meanwhile, another survey showed that the sales volume of canned tea has risen by 300 percent annually in China.

Although colas have accounted for 36.8 percent of China's soft-drink market, the country produced 1 million tons of canned tea last year, up from 200,000 tons in 1997 and the output is estimated to reach 1.5 million tons this year.

Experts here noted that canned tea is popular among Asian people even with the young generation for it is no longer hot tea in the teapot but canned drinks which are easy to carry and store and still has the taste people have enjoyed for years.

The canned tea market share is larger than soft-drinks in Japan and China's Taiwan Province. In the US, people also drink 29.7 liters of canned tea per capita.

(Xinhua 12/18/2000)