Ningxia dairies see success in quantity, quality

A worker provides a calf with milk at a breeding base in Lingwu. [Photo by Peng Yaru/For China Daily]

"Dairy enterprises should build more smart facilities that are equipped with 5G networks, and further encourage industrial upgrading to integrate cattle breeding with the internet," said Ma Lie, general manager of Ningxia Woye Mufeng Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Co Ltd, a company founded in 2017 and recently listed on the National Equities Exchange and Quotations. The NEEQ is an over-the-counter system for trading shares of companies not listed on either the Shenzhen or Shanghai exchanges.

Shanghai-based dairy maker Bright Dairy, the municipal government of Zhongwei in Ningxia and Ningxia Agricultural Investment Co Ltd plan to join in building a dairy industry chain project.

The plans call for establishing a plant in Zhongwei to produce high-end organic infant formula and premium milk. It is expected to help fill the gap in high-end infant formula processing in Northwest China, according to Bright Dairy.

In addition, Ningxia Saishang Dairy Ltd said it provides about two-thirds of the whipped cream that coffee chain Starbucks uses nationwide. It also provides the raw materials for cheese caps－usually a layer of milk and cream cheese foam on top of tea－to Chinese boutique teahouse chain HeyTea.

"Only by turning Ningxia's high-quality milk into high value-added dairy products can we help the dairy sector in Ningxia to become a bigger player in the nationwide market," said Yan Jianguo, president of Ningxia Saishang Dairy.

Ningxia's government forecast that by the end of 2021, the autonomous region would have 673,000 cows, which would be 17.2 percent higher than in 2020.

The annual yield of milk per cow is expected to reach 9,200 kilograms, which would be significantly higher than the national average. The total annual output of fresh milk in the region would exceed 2.8 million tons, up 29.7 percent year-on-year, it said.