January 18, 2008

China to contain dairy sector's overproduction

China will hasten efforts to create threshold standards for the dairy processing industry and eliminate outdated production capacity.

The National Development and Reform Commission announced it is currently suspending any establishment of new local dairy processing centers.

The number of dairy enterprises in China expanded from 1,600 to 2,000 in 2007, with most of the new enterprises being small in size.

Currently, the country's dairy output is about 30 million tonnes, while the production capacity is around 50 million tonnes.

The government sees it necessary to eliminate almost 40 to 50 percent of the local dairy enterprises.