September 4, 2006

China's milk production doubles in 5 years

China's dairy industry production doubled from 2000 to 2005 to hit 28.65 million tonnes, said the China Dairy Association (CDA) Friday (Sep 1). 

The latest statistics show the Chinese consume 21.7 kilogrammes of dairy produce per capita. That meant a yearly increase of 14.6 percent for 10 years running. Despite the impressive growth, it still remains as just one fifth of the international average.

China had 690 dairy businesses in 2005. Of these, 58 process more than 300 tonnes of milk a day and 78 had sales over RMB 100 million (US$12.5 million).

China's dairy industry is in transition from traditional to modern technology and techniques, said Liu Chengguo, secretary of the CDA.

The Eleventh Five-Year Plan of the Agriculture Industry and Economic Development in Rural Areas sets a target for a national dairy production of up to 42 million tonnes in 2010.

However, the industry's output value accounts for only 5 percent of the stock-breeding industry, compared with 23 percent in the United States, 25 percent in Japan, and 30 to 40 percent in Britain and Germany.

Industry analysts said if each Chinese consumes 0.5 kilogramme of milk a day, the country's consumption would rise to account for more than a third of the world's total dairy production.

Liu said the development of the labour-intensive dairy industry would help lower the rural unemployment by moving labour from farming to the food processing sector and the service industry.