CHANGGE, China – Zhongpin Inc.’s board of directors has approved a stock repurchase program of up to $10 million of its outstanding stock over the next 12 months. This program was approved by Zhongpin's board of directors on July 5 became effective that same day and is authorized to be in effect through July 4, 2012.

"Our board of directors approved this share repurchase program to demonstrate its confidence in the long-term growth outlook for Zhongpin and its desire to create value for our shareholders,” said Xianfu Zhu, Zhongpin's chairman and CEO. “Our good cash position gives us the flexibility both to continue our aggressive growth strategy and to buy our shares through the stock repurchase plan."


Zhongpin's board of directors will periodically review the share repurchase program and may authorize adjustments to the program's terms and size. The board may also suspend or discontinue the repurchase program at any time.

The company expects to pay for the repurchased shares using internally available cash. As of March 31, Zhongpin's cash and cash equivalents totaled $177.6 million. It had 40.3 million common shares outstanding as of March 31.

Zhongpin Inc. is a meat and food processing company that specializes in pork and pork products, vegetables and fruits in China.