China world's third-largest dairy producer
26 June 2007
China overtook Russia and Pakistan to rank third in the world after India and the United States in the production of dairy products in 2006, China Securities Journal reported (in Chinese). China's dairy production grew 15% to reach 32.9 million metric tons in 2006, said Liu Chengguo, director of the Dairy Association of China. Chinese residents consumed an average of 25.6 kilograms of dairy products in 2006. The number of major dairy manufacturing enterprises, namely state-owned enterprises and those with an annual sales revenue of above US$660,000, has doubled over the last seven years to reach 698 in 2005, 14 of which boast a daily processing capacity of more than 1,000 metric tons.