Dairy industry seeks further upgrade

Senior dairy experts from home and aboard and representatives of leading diary companies meet in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia autonomous region to exchange ideas on upgrading the dairy industry during a seminar held on March 26. [Photo by Han Xiaowei/China Daily]

Senior dairy experts at home and aboard and representatives of leading diary companies gathered in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia autonomous region to exchange ideas about upgrading the dairy industry during a seminar held on March 26.

Feng Yuzhen, mayor of Hohhot, Jing Yulin, deputy director of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Economic and Information Technology Commission, and officials from regional and municipal governments attended the seminar.

With leading dairy giants like Mengniu Dairy Group Co and Yili Industrial Group Co based in the city, Hohhot is well established as China's most significant dairy industry hub.

Upgrading the dairy industry has been the primary goal of Hohhot in pursuing high-quality development, according to the head of Hohhot Economic and Information Technology Commission.

The government has made a series of firm plans to upgrade its dairy industry, making it the first multibillion-yuan industry of the city.

In a 2017 list published by Dutch banking and finance group Rabobank, Yili and Mengniu were ranked 8th and 10th respectively among the world’s largest dairy companies. The two companies generated revenues of nearly 130 billion yuan ($20.74 billion) in 2017, accounting for a third of the industry’s total revenues.

During the seminar, senior experts, representatives from Yili and Mengniu, and Snorri Sigurdsson, a director at the China-Denmark Milk Technology and Cooperation Center gave speeches about speeding up the internationalization of the dairy industry and leading the way in embracing industry 4.0.

Feng Yuzhen, mayor of Hohhot speaks at the seminar held on March 26. [Photo by Han Xiaowei/China Daily]

"The local government should attach great importance to supporting the development of the dairy industry by improving policies and the business environment in the city," said Feng Yuzhen, speaking at the seminar.

He stressed that the upgrading of the dairy industry was expected to lead the way for high-quality growth in the city.