Chinese food safety regulators have shut down production at a Coca-Cola beverage plant in Shanxi province after discovering small amounts of chlorine in some of the products following a routine maintenance check.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the contaminated products were made between February 4-8 this year, and were just below the national standard of purified water in China of 0.005 milligrams per litre.

A spokeswoman for Coca-Cola added that the company was working towards resolving its quality and production issues at the plant, though she insisted that the plant's suspension would not affect Coca-Cola's overall business in China.

"An on-site inspection, product testing, consultation of records, interviewing workers and other methods confirmed media reports about the situation were fact," said a representative from Shanxi province.

Related: China To Impose Lifetime Bans For Food Safety Violators

Related: China Scrambles To Crack Down On "Fake Eggs"

Related: China Overtakes the US as the World's Largest Grocery Market

"The chlorine levels are well below the WHO (World Health Organization), EU, North American and China standards for drinking water."

Chlorine is most commonly used to kill bacteria during water treatment, though high levels of the chemical could be fatal.

An anonymous company whistle-blower had informed local media back in February that nine batches of the plant's products were contaminated, causing some local retailers to refuse to purchase any products in the process.

As such, the US-based company had to move quickly to address the issue, particularly asChina is considered to be of Coca-Cola's most important growth markets - accounting for around seven percent of its global volume last year.

According to AFP, Coca-Cola plans to invest more than $4 billion in China over the next three years starting from 2012.

he company has more than 40 bottling plants in China, where it cooperates with Chinese food giant COFCO and Hong Kong conglomerate Swire Pacific.