Cola Coca Inc has unveiled its best sales growth in almost nine years on the back of surging sales of Coca Cola in China and India. During the second quarter of the year, Coca Cola''s sales rose 19 per cent compared with the year before.

Sales of soft drinks in China such as Diet Coke and Qoo, a vitamin C children''s drink, represented the best-performing part of the group''s business. However, sales of carbonated drinks in America slipped 3 per cent during the period.

A company spokesman blamed the performance in its home country partly to being forced to increase prices to absorb higher aluminium and sugar costs. While both commodities have fallen this year, the company still suffers from a lag effect of the higher prices in 2006.

Coke Zero, the no-calorie drink launched by the company in the United States two years ago, has enjoyed a 10 per cent rise in sales over the period.

Overall, Coca-Cola reported a net income rise of just 1 per cent in the three-month period at $1.85 billion, bringing net income for the half-year up 6 per cent to $3.11 billion.

The Coca-Cola Company, including its bottlers, employs about 55,000 people, 44,000 outside the United States