Two leading Chinese and Japanese food processing companies have started a chicken-raising project in China's Henan province that will, in its first phase, produce 50 million chickens per year.

Citing Xinhua Economic News Service, Meatingplace reports that the project, jointly built by Shuanghui Group and Nippon Ham will cost 1.72 billion yuan (CNY; $252.2 million).

Xinhua quoted Shuanghui Group Chairman, Wan Long, as saying the first-phase of the project will be able to produce 300,000 tonnes of feed, 50 million chickens and 120,000 tonnes of chicken meat products every year.

The project, located in Luohe city of Henan, is expected to be in operation in 2010.

Shuanghui is a leading meat processing company in China, and Nippon Ham is a multinational food processing conglomerate headquartered in Japan, according to the report.