Zhongpin's Laboratory is Designated as a Key Laboratory

CHANGGE, China and BEIJING, March 25 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- Zhongpin Inc. ("Zhongpin" or the "Company", Nasdaq: HOGS), a leading meat and food processing company in the People's Republic of China ("China"), reported today that the Science & Technology Department of Henan Province in China has designated Zhongpin's scientific laboratory for food quality and processing as a Key Laboratory. The designation means that the laboratory is now approved by Henan's Science & Technology Department as a Key Laboratory for meat production processing and quality assurance. This Key Laboratory was created in collaboration with Henan Agricultural University.

The designation of the Key Laboratory is another important achievement for Zhongpin, especially for the Company's quality assurance system that is applied to food production. The government's recognition has resulted from Zhongpin's aggressive investments and vigorous actions to provide the highest quality and safety of its products to its customers -- from farm to fork.

The designs and processes used in this Key Laboratory are at the forefront of the industry and are based on the world's leading research, development, process engineering, quality assurance, and information technology for food processing. The laboratory is equipped with the most modern scientific instruments and integrated systems from North America and Asia and uses the most stringent testing and measurement processes.

In addition to its focus on scientific testing to validate product quality assurance and production processes, this Key Laboratory also has the mission to study three topics to advance the Company's and the industry's scientific knowledge and food processing practices: the factors and mechanisms that influence meat quality, emerging new processing engineering and quality assurance technologies that could improve food safety and quality even further, and scientific factors that influence product competitiveness in the market.

The designation as the Key Laboratory is expected to result in a steady flow of outstanding scientists and engineers who seek to work with Zhongpin, to enhance the Company's research and development capabilities, to accelerate the Company's product and process improvements and new product innovations, and to serve as an exchange platform for technical cooperation with universities, technical institutes, and food processors in China and around the world.

About Zhongpin

Zhongpin Inc. is a meat and food processing company that specializes in pork and pork products, vegetables, and fruits in China. Its distribution network in the China covers 20 provinces plus Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, and Chongqing and includes more than 3,000 retail outlets. Zhongpin's export markets include the European Union and Southeast Asia. For more information about Zhongpin, please visit Zhongpin's website at http://www.zpfood.com .

Safe harbor statement

Certain statements in this news release may be forward-looking statements made under the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Zhongpin has based its forward-looking statements largely on its current expectations and projections about future events and trends that it believes may affect its business strategy, results of operations, financial condition, and financing needs.

These projections involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements, which may include but are not limited to such factors as downturns in the Chinese economy, unanticipated changes in product demand, any effect from the A(H1N1) virus on Zhongpin's market or sales, interruptions in the supply of live pigs and or raw pork, poor performance of the retail distribution network, delivery delays, freezer facility malfunctions, Zhongpin's ability to build and commence new production facilities according to intended timelines, the ability to prepare Zhongpin for growth, the ability to predict Zhongpin's future financial performance and financing ability, changes in regulations, and other information detailed in Zhongpin's filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.

You are urged to consider these factors carefully in evaluating Zhongpin's forward-looking statements and are cautioned not to place undue reliance on those forward-looking statements, which are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. All information provided in this news release is as of the date of this release. Zhongpin does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

    For more information, please contact:

    Zhongpin Inc.
     Mr. Sterling Song (English and Chinese)
     Investor Relations Manager
     Tel:   +86-10-8286-1788 ext. 101 in Beijing
     Email: [email protected]

     Mr. Warren (Feng) Wang (English and Chinese)
     Chief Financial Officer
     Tel:   +86-10-8286-1788 ext. 104 in Beijing
     Email: [email protected]

    Christensen
     Mr. Yuanyuan Chen (English and Chinese)
     Mobile: +86-139-2337-7882 in Beijing
     Email:  [email protected]

     Mr. Tom Myers (English)
     Mobile: +86-139-1141-3520 in Beijing
     Email:  [email protected]

     Ms. Kathy Li (English and Chinese)
     Tel:   +1-212-618-1978 in the USA
     Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Zhongpin Inc.