Pakistan, Aug. 15 -- At a gleaming new factory in China's central hinterland, masked workers in white uniform season and sift through mounds of latiao, a longtime popular snack that has found hungry fans overseas.

Spicy, sweet and curiously chewy, Chinese latiao - literally "spicy strips" - are made by cooking wheat flour dough at a high temperature and pressure.

Despite their reputation as junk food, the snacks originally developed as emergency supplies have grown into an industry worth more than 60 billion yuan ($8.9 billion). The factory that AFP visited in Hunan province's Pingjiang turns out nearly 700 tonnes per day of the spongy, red-coloured strips, which look like squashed French fries covered in oil.

The plant's operator Mala...