Seattle-based Starbucks Coffee Co. advanced its growth plans in China with the opening of its 100th store in Beijing, celebrating the first store in the China market led by all certified coffee masters.

Tingyi Holding Corp., Tianjin, China, and Purchase, N.Y-based PepsiCo Inc. announced that the two parties have completed their transaction to create a strategic beverage alliance in China. The alliance was approved by the shareholders of Tingyi in February and received regulatory approval March 29.

Yao Ming, retired NBA player, owner of the Shanghai Sharks and humanitarian, established his own Napa Valley wine company: Yao Family Wines. The company released its inaugural wine, a 2009 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, under the Yao Ming brand name in mainland China. Yao Family Wines has appointed Pernod Ricard China as the sole and exclusive importer and distributor of the brand in mainland China.

Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev), New York, and energy solutions provider GE, Fairfield, Conn., have formed a strategic alliance to develop innovative manufacturing solutions that are designed to drive energy efficiency and water savings in existing and “greenfield” AB InBev facilities across China.

Purchase, N.Y.-based PepsiCo Inc., which grows and uses more than 3 million tons of fruits and vegetables for its juice brands each year, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Agriculture of the People's Republic of China to promote sustainable agriculture projects and accelerate the development of the Chinese countryside.