Chinese dairy giant Yili Group announced that its Europe R&D Center at Wageningen University in the Netherlands will be rebranded as Europe Innovation Center, on Sept 12, with the aim of building more international partnerships to spur innovation.

“With the rebranding, Yili will expand its cooperation with Wageningen University in areas including resource sharing and staff exchanges,” said Zhang Jianqiu, the executive president of Yili Group.

In partnership with Yili, we are eyeing food markets around the world, said Louise Fresco, president of the research executive board of the university.

In February 2014, Yili, together with the university, jointly established the Europe R&D Center. 

Since its establishment, the center has worked on improving food safety and farm management, while carrying out research into breast milk.

“From establishment to upgrading, the Europe R&D Center has covered different fields and built bridges between countries and continents to meet the technological demand of companies. It is also able to assist with the commercialization of its research findings,” said Zhang Yi, deputy secretary-general of China Chamber of International Commerce (CCOIC).

The center has really set an example for international and non-governmental cooperation, he added.

In recent years, Yili has focused on innovation to help grow its business.

The group will continuously promote innovation to move forward, benefiting China’s dairy industry as a whole, said Zhang Jianqiu. 

According to the Global Dairy Top 20 rankings released by the Netherlands-based Rabobank, Yili ranks among the top 10 players in the global dairy industry and has ranked first in Asia for many years.

Some 200 representatives from of CCOIC, research institutes and dairy companies in China and the Netherlands attended the conference. 

The first meeting of the China-Netherlands Business Council，jointly held by CCOIC and Yili Group, was held on the same day for participants to discuss economic and trade ties between the two countries.