A former US diplomat who spent 12 years helping American companies do business in China has turned his expertise and life-long interest in health into his own China business. He markets US supplements in China and exports Chinese gouqi (goji, wolfberries) berries.

Every day Barnes, 55, eats the bright red dried berries, one of the world's most powerful and highly concentrated antioxidants, mixing them with his oatmeal. He is so convinced of the need for high-quality berries from China that he and his Chinese partners have built a new high-tech processing plant in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

The Yinchuan facility is the world's largest and most advanced gouqi juice-processing plant, says Barnes. It also produces dried berries, powder and seed oil, all for export. Gouqi juice will be launched in the China market this month.

The health business is Barnes' latest undertaking in China. He is president of both Xanadu Inc, which he runs with his full-partner wife Qi Haiting, and Ningxia Ruby Goji Co (international operations). He is also the China director of Vita-Tech, a California supplements supplier. Barnes writes articles on nutrition and wellness in English and Chinese.

A native of Portland, Oregon, Barnes holds a master's degree in international business administration and has worked in Asia for many years, helping US companies seize the expanding economic opportunities. As US commercial liaison to the Asian Development Bank in Manila, the Philippines, from 1997 to 2000, he helped US companies bid for ADB projects and advised US officials during the Asian financial crisis.

Barnes came to China in 1987, working as a US diplomat for 12 years, serving in Beijing, Guangzhou (Guangdong Province) and Chengdu (Sichuan Province). He moved to Shanghai two and a half years ago.