International Paper has announced the signature of a final agreement for the sale of its food service activities in China to the Hong Kong based packaging producer Huhtamaki. IP has two plants and about 200 employees here. The transaction is expected to be finalised in the next months, after obtaining the necessary government authorizations. In the last two years the company finalized the sale of its corrugated cardboard business in China and South-East Asia, together with the sale of its covered cardboard business within the joint venture in China. Although the Chinese and Asian markets remain strategic, the company has decided that these areas can be more effectively and rapidly served through the joint venture with the Russian company Ilim and with products exported from the United States and other parts of the world.