GUANGZHOU, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Carlsberg Group, a multinational brewer headquartered in Denmark, announced on Wednesday that its Carlsberg Foshan Sanshui Brewery, with an annual capacity of 500,000 kiloliters, has officially started operations.

With a total investment of nearly 3 billion yuan (about 420.9 million U.S. dollars), the new brewery in the Sanshui District of the city of Foshan, south China's Guangdong Province, is the company's 27th in China, meant to supply the south China region and nearby markets.

According to Lee Chee Kong, president of Carlsberg China, the brewery covers an area of 250 mu (about 16.7 hectares) and is one of Carlsberg Group's global flagship breweries.

The brewery is equipped with two bottling lines with a capacity of 48,000 bottles per hour, a canning line with a capacity of 90,000 cans per hour, and a kegging line that can deliver an output of 90 kegs per hour, making it capable of producing all the brands owned by Carlsberg.

It also houses Carlsberg Group's first R&D center outside of Europe -- the Carlsberg Group Asia Development Centre. This center will provide services in new product development, trend analysis, flavor research and brewing processes.