Figures show a growth in jobs in Pennsylvania as the Fuling factory hires people and Chinese investors pour money into emerging sectors

Thousands of colored and transparent straws whirled through machinery, each getting wrapped in paper sleeves to keep them sanitary.

The individual straws then moved on a conveyer belt and were bundled together by the hundreds.

Sealed in clear plastic pouches, they were boxed and shipped across the United States to fast-food chains such as Subway, Taco Bell and Wendy's.

Workers at Fuling Plastic USA pack straws that have been individually wrapped in paper sleeves. The plant in Pennsylvania, US, manufactures five to six metric tons of straws a day. Zhou Pai / China Daily

This is the inside of the two-year-old Fuling Plastic USA factory in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The company is a unit of Fuling Plastics Co Ltd based in Zhejiang province in eastern China.

The plant has 37 employees and makes straws - approximately five to six metric tons every day - but it may produce plastic food containers by 2018 or 2019, according to the company.

Fuling's four factories in China produce disposable forks, knives and containers.