December 21, 2006

China rises from world's sixth largest dairy producer to third place

China's dairy output is expected to exceed that of Russia, Pakistan and Germany, rising from being the sixth largest dairy producer to the third, according to Zentrale Markt- und Preisberichtstelle (ZMP) statistics, a German market statistics company

Since 2000, China's milk output has been growing at an average 23 percent annually, with production reaching 275 million tonnes in 2005 and 300 million tonnes in 2006, with 400 million tonnes expected in 2010. However, current distribution of consumers in China is uneven, with the affluent population in the east coast consuming much more than those in inland western regions.