In December 1978 Austin announced Coca-Cola would return to China after a 30-year ban.
Austin had been working with Chinese officials since 1975 to secure Coca-Cola's return.
In a January 1979 article in People magazine, Austin stated that to bring Coca-Cola back to mainland China, "[a]ll it took was patience."
Austin continued,
My attitude was not pushy ... but to say that in the normal course of events it would be most likely that they would enter foreign trade.
And when they did, the way to signal it to the world at large was to bring Coca-Cola in—as the symbol of U.S. foreign trade.

The announcement came just a few days after President Carter announced the normalization of relations between the United States and China, though Coca-Cola insisted there was no link.
In December 1978 Austin announced Coca-Cola would return to China after a 30-year ban. Austin had been working with Chinese officials since 1975 to secure Coca-Cola's return. In a January 1979 article in People magazine, Austin stated that to bring Coca-Cola back to mainland China, "[a]ll it took was patience." Austin continued,
My attitude was not pushy ... but to say that in the normal course of events it would be most likely that they would enter foreign trade. And when they did, the way to signal it to the world at large was to bring Coca-Cola in—as the symbol of U.S. foreign trade.
The announcement came just a few days after President Carter announced the normalization of relations between the United States and China, though Coca-Cola insisted there was no link.
J. Paul Austin