Shanghai Jahwa United Co Ltd, a cosmetics and personal care products conglomerate, will be tapping into the oral care market by partnering one of China’s most renowned medicine manufacturers, Zhangzhou Pien Tze Huang Pharmaceutical Co Ltd.

With a registered capital of 190 million yuan ($30 million), the two companies will form Shanghai Jahwa Pien Tze Huang (Zhangzhou) Oral Care Co Ltd, according to an announcement released by Jahwa.

Shanghai Jahwa or its subsidiaries will control 49 percent of the venture, while Zhangzhou Pien Tze Huang or its subsidiaries will hold the remaining 51 percent. The joint venture will include research and development, production, sales and other related businesses of toothpastes and other oral care products.

In an exclusive interview with China Daily USA, Jahwa noted that the two companies share a long-standing history that has spanned over a century and they see this oral care venture as the beginning of further strategic collaborations.

Pien Tze Huang, a traditional Chinese formula that was believed to have been prescribed as early as the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), is listed as one of the four protected varieties of traditional medicines at the national level by the State Council.

Its recipe and manufacturing process remain a top secret, and the medication is known as “a special Chinese antibiotics” that can effectively relieve various types of pain and treat inflammation.

The secret formula will be a core component in the toothpaste developed and manufactured as part of the joint venture, Jahwa told China Daily, and it believes that the popular medicine could prove to be a potent endorsement for the new product.

Zhangzhou Pien Tze Huang, headquartered in Zhangzhou, Southeast China’s Fujian province, is the exclusive manufacturer of the medicine.

On the company’s official online store where customers can purchase personal care products that all claim to contain Pien Tze Huang, it advertises that the medicine has been exported to various countries including the United States.

Jahwa’s consolidated sales revenues hit 5.335 billion yuan in 2014, up 19.38 percent year-on-year, according to the company’s annual financial report. Investment in research and development accounted for over 3 percent of the company’s annual revenue.

One of the targets of the country’s oldest manufacturer of cosmetics and personal care products, with a history dating back to 1898, is to earn revenue of 12 billion yuan by the end of 2018, said Jahwa chairman Xie Wenjian.

In an interview with local media earlier this year, the chairman said that launching new products will play a major role in helping achieve this goal.

xujunqian@chinadaily.com.cn