Coca-Cola will invest $2bn in China over the next three years and expects to maintain double-digit growth in that market, Muhtar Kent, chief executive, said yesterday in an interview.

News of fresh spending by Coke in China - which has recently become the drinks maker's third largest market, behind the US and Mexico - comes as debate grows over whether Beijing is spending enough to stimulate domestic consumption and ward off a precipitous slowdown in the Chinese economy.