August 28, 2012

China's dairy producers encouraged to establish own milk supply bases

China's dairy producers is urged by participants at the 18th annual conference of the China Dairy Industry Association (CDIA), to establish their own raw milk supply bases in order to revive consumers' confidence.

The dairy producers still had a long way to go in addressing consumers' safety concerns as they do not control much of the supply of raw milk, said Zhu Hongren, chief engineer of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology at the conference.

"At present, the dairy producers only produce 30% of the raw milk they use, while the target is set at more than 50% in the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15) period," said Song Kunguang, director-general of the CDIA.

The establishment of milk supply bases would continue to be the key factor in the development of the dairy industry, said Song.

Diverse and unmonitored sources of raw milk supply have caused quality problems in dairy products, which could be resolved through the establishment of self-managed raw milk bases, said Liu Chengguo, honorary chairman of the Dairy Association of China.